Hong Yi Photo: Courtesy of Hong Yi

Hong Yi's Photo: Courtesy of Hong Yi

Hong Yi's Photo: Courtesy of Hong Yi

Hong Yi's Photo: Courtesy of Hong Yi

Life is art. We often hear people say this, yet many of us are unable to  actually see this in our daily lives.

Hong Yi, a Malaysian artist of Chinese descent, however, demonstrates this direct link in all her work.

Melted candles, flowers, seeds, socks, face powder and nail polish, almost anything from daily life can become materials for her work. She has created large sized portraits of famous figures, such as Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, basketball player Yao Ming and British singer Adele. Yet it has been her smaller creations involving the use of a plate that have brought her wider popularity on the Internet.

Food creativity

This series of 31 works exhibited on her personal website and Sina Weibo is titled 31 Days of Food Creativity.

With a white square plate serving as a backdrop, Hong uses foods and sauces like cherry tomatoes, rice, onions, and ketchup to paint works of art.

For example, in one work a dozen cherry tomatoes are cut and made into a bundle of balloons. Thin strips of Japanese seaweed paper act as balloon strings held in the hand of a small boy leaning in to kiss a girl, both of whom are made from oyster sauce. Another work uses only a cut piece of pitaya fruit, the seeds of which have been arranged to form a picture of a knight fighting a dragon.

Another layer making Hong's works more special is that the materials used often intertwine with the overall theme of the artwork itself. For instance, the pitaya is called huo long guo, literally translated as fire dragon fruit, in Chinese. This builds a connection to the seed made dragon, a mythological creature known for breathing fire. Another work, an adaptation of ancient Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai's The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, consists of two famous products from Japan, a piece of seaweed paper and rice grains. The former acts as a backdrop while the latter is used to draw waves.

Hong told the Global Times that her inspiration came from observing the objects she encounters in life. To create her food art series, Hong visited local markets, "Observing the fruits and veggies, touching and feeling their skin, bumps and veins. Cherry tomatoes, with their smooth shiny skin, reminded me of balloons. The cross-section of a lemon reminded me of the sun," she wrote in an e-mail to the Global Times.

Small as they are, these pieces of art are not easy to create.

Hong recalled that when she was making her Mommy and Baby Polar Bear piece from ice-cream she had to try five different times because the hot weather in Malaysia kept melting the ice-cream.

Inspiration from life

The 28-year-old artist, who also goes by the name "Red" (the meaning of "Hong" in Chinese), calls herself "an artist who does not like to paint with brushes."

Hong majored in architecture for her post-graduate degree at the University of Melbourne in Australia. She believes this training led her to notice objects around her and see patterns in nature, while also encouraging her to experiment with materials, textures and structures.

A job offer brought her to Shanghai in May 2011. It was in this place that her grandparents left during the 1960s where the earliest inspiration for her artwork rose.

Although she had heard a lot of stories about Shanghai before, it wasn't until she lived there that she developed a new appreciation for the metropolis.  

"A messy yet charming city," is how Hong described Shanghai. "It's a city of contrasts," she explained. "You may walk past a gleaming skyscraper one moment, and the next you may stumble into an ancient little alleyway with laundry hanging in mid-air.

"These moments inspired me to notice things, objects and textures around me," she added.

Meanwhile the various wholesale markets in China provided good places for cheap raw materials with a variety of choices.

Hong said she wants to express one message through these works "beauty can be found everywhere if you look at your surroundings with fresh, new eyes."

This message seems to have been heard as she has received feedback from people telling her they were inspired to see potential in more things which are often overlooked.

From big to small

Hong began with big projects. Portraits of famous people often at least 1 square meter in size. Her first work was a portrait of Yao Ming, created by dribbling with a basketball dipped in paint. That was two years ago in January 2012.

Besides painting Yao Ming with a basketball, a portrait of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi consists of 2,000 red-dyed carnations. "She's often seen with flowers in her hair, and red represents passion and sacrifice," Hong explained.

Yet, when Hong's art work began getting bigger and more complicated, she started to question herself, finally deciding to take a step back. Starting from March of 2012 she began focusing on smaller sized and simple works.

She explained that she chose food because it is something everyone encounters everyday

More recently, Hong created another series of small and simple paintings. Following a Chinese watercolor style, they use cosmetics like nail polish, face powder, lipstick and fake eyelashes.

"I've made 15 so far," said the young artist, who has now established her own studio "Studio Hong Yi." "I plan to keep continuing doing mini projects or experiments like these," she said.

For more information and works of Hong Yi, please visit redhongyi.com