Hong Yi is an artist/architect from Malaysia known as, ‘the artist who loves to paint, but not with a paintbrush’. She also goes by the nickname ‘Red’ because Hong sounds like the word ‘red’ in Mandarin.
Last month, Hong challenged herself to create a new piece of food art for every day of March and share the results on Instagram. There were only two rules:
1. Only food can be used
2. The creations must be placed on a white plate, which serves as the backdrop
In a recent interview with designboom, Hong explains:
“My ‘creativity with food‘ series has helped me push the limits of my creativity, and has taught me to work within the confines of a very small area – my previous works range from 1 x 2 to 3 x 4 meters. I’ve learned to slice, dice, stir, boil…who would have thought I’d need that to do art!”
[via designboom]
1.
cherry tomatoes, nori and soy sauce
2.
long-grain rice and nori
3.
red onions, mint leaves
4.
nori, apple
Which artists or designers have influenced you the most?
“Picasso. he has a famous quote… ‘all children are artists. the problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.’ This has influenced me to see joy and fun in ordinary, everyday items that I come across, and to paint and create objects as I feel and imagine them, not just as I see them. as an architect, I really admire pritzker prize winner and architect wang shu’s work, for his careful and clever use of recycled materials, his respect for tradition and context, and how his works have a monumental yet calm presence about them.”
[Source: designboom interview]
5.
ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, oyster sauce
6.
oreo cookies
7.
squid, squid ink
8.
egg shells, hard-boiled egg
What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
“‘If you want something you’ve never had, do something you’ve never done’. It was this quote that drove me to start on my portraits with
unusual materials, and also my current ‘creativity with food’ series. ‘Be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle’ is a quote by Plato that I hold
close to me, but is much easier said than done.”
[Source: designboom interview]
9.
chopped carrots, white radish, dried prunes
10.
watermelon, watermelon seeds
11. Three Little Pigs
House 1: Angel hair pasta; House 2: Biscuit sticks; House 3: Dried chilli, with peanut butter as mortar; Ground: peanut butter and dill; Chimney smoke and clouds: Mayonnaise; Wolf: Charcoal bread, and olives for nose; Lines: Marmite
12.
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