Red Hong Yi and Edible Art

Empty Lighthouse is a reader-supported site. This article may contain affiliate links to Amazon and other sites. We earn a commission on purchases made through these links.

Food is art to Red Hong Yi, a Malaysian artist, that chose to use aliments to create incredible artworks, with bread, chocolate, ketchup and so much more.

She enjoys experimenting with colors, and one of her most popular creative realizations have been those made with coffee.

Inspired by a song from the singer Jay Chou called ''Secret'', she used this well known brownish liquid to portray him.

With imperfect but strong lines and of sepia color, that painting reminds of an old photo with details that recall leaves fallen in autumn.

Hong Yi didn't leave anything to casualty, she studied well the different types of coffee, knowing that one too strong wouldn't be easy to manipulate and way too dark, but that also one too weak wouldn't create the particular circles that characterize the artwork.

The artist's talent is also in the ability to connect perfectly between themselves coffee and cup, using them as a perfect replacement to paint and brush.

In another series of hers she enclosed her art on different plates, creating animals, landscapes with an occasional touch of fantasy, always using only edible material.

As to why she chose to not use traditional paint in her works she explains, "I grew up loving art, but my degree in architecture has introduced me to a different side of art - 3D art. I soon got acquainted to structures of buildings and different textures of materials. The newfound knowledge was put into good use when I moved to Shanghai and had no painting tools with me.

I tried sourcing for materials in the local wholesale market to create an artwork, and I was blown away! In China, you can buy everything in bulks, for very good prices.

Soon after that, I used the architectural principles to scale the art pieces that I make out of everyday objects. That's my story."