Malaysian-born artist Red Hong Yi gave herself a culinary challenge, turning food into art over 30 days and offering a running commentary on Facebook.
Anchors aweigh! This watermelon sailboat is day one of a food adventure. A simple, elegant design echoing her journey to come.
You can see more of Red Hong's work here at redhongyi.com.
Say arggh!
The Scream by Edvard Munch. Hong Yi says, "sorry I just had to do that."
Garden of eating
"Found a tiny little garden on my plate today," says Hong Yi of this rural scene in oats herbs, chillies and a lemon sun.
Soy Sabah
Sabah in soy sauce. Sabah is the easternmost state in Malaysia.
Chicken in the egg
This rendition of a hen and her chick is made entirely of brown egg shell fragments. A delicate medium, requiring some accurate breaks, Hong Yi used a hard boiled egg to create a sun.
All you need is love
Harkening to a young romatic theme, this pair of soy sauce cuties strike at the heartstrings, with the boy doing a terrible job of hiding his cherry tomato balloon bouquet.
The new wave
Day seven sees an homage to the great artist, Hokusai Katsushika. Hong Yi's adaptation of "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" is made of seaweed paper and rice. She points out "That's Mt Fuji in the background!"
Tiger in the raw
This harmless tiger is made of chopped carrots, white radish and dried prunes. "Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a zigzag of balsamic glaze and voila! A fun plate of salad!" says Hong Yi, adding "I hope this encourages ur kids to eat their vegetables!"
Dragon slayer
Taking to a literal inspiration, "Saw a dragon in my dragon fruit today!" says Hong Yi, advising, "Has anyone not seen a dragon fruit before? Google it!"
Dog biscuits
"Four dogs in my Oreos!" says hong Yi, asking, "Can you name all 4 breeds?"
Pop art
Another homage to a great artist, Andy Warhol. A can of Campbell's Tomato Soup "made of ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard and oyster sauce!" Hong Yi says it "took a while to get 'condensed' looking alright!" adding that the mayonnaise "was hard to smooth it out on such a small area with limited tools (ie chopsticks, skewers and a butter knife)."
Inked well
This tumultuous maritime scene is made from squid and squid ink. Hong Yi says it was her "stinkiest plate art work so far", adding that "this squid is going into my tom yum soup tonight."
Melting chocolate caps
This scene of a pair of polar bears takes a slightly humorous approach to the topic of the melting ice cap in the Arctic.
Sweeping up
Another homage to a great artist, the elusive Banksy. "Made from nori and apple." Hong Yi asks, "What does this Banksy piece of the maid mean to you?"
She says that Banksy was her second attempt that day. "The first was Taylor Swift with instant noodles, which failed big time. I ended up sharing her hair with my dog Chowder."
Three little pigs
Playing with the story of the Three Little Pigs, Hong Yi made three little houses. "House 1 made of angel hair pasta, house 2 biscuit sticks, house 3 dried chilli." Which one would be able to withstand the mighty blow of the big bad wolf? Find out in the next slide.
Huff and puff
The smart little piggie made his house of chilis, or so goes this version of the tale by Hong Yi. The big bad wolf, made of charcoal bread, was able to blow down only two of the homes made by these kidney bean pigs.
Up, up and away
"This is how the third pig REALLY got away," adds Hong Yi, expanding on her own version of the tale. "He's a big Pixar fan as you can tell."
Cool as a...
This entire landscape is made from one single cucumber.
Wise old onion
Hong Yi calls this "Owl-nion!" "Made of onions and mint leaves. My eyes were teary as I was making this piece."
Tutu too sweet
Hong Yi says she "tried something different by playing with the shadows of the plate to create a spotlight effect for the ballerinas." This cute little dance scene is made of chocolate syrup and colored chocolate shavings.
You're my butter half
Made of Bovril and butter and chilli, "just to spice things up a bit" jokes Hong Yi, this piece is dedicated to three different sets of friends who are tying the knot this year.
Carnivore vs. herbivore
Made of beef, spinach, and parsley. Hong Yi says this "a new way to serve carpaccio ... add olive oil, shaved cheese, salt, pepper n lemon and you're done!"
The big top
Hong Yi calls this "An eggplant circus" adding that she's made "a nervous-looking elephant!"
Hot flowers
This field of tulips made of baby chilis. Hong Yi dedicates this one to her Dutch friends as she spent one semester studying in Delft. "Tulips were in full bloom in April. Imagine strips of vibrant colors spread across large fields. That's still one of the most beautiful things I've seen in my life."
Haute cuisine
Louis Vuitton monogrammed mushrooms, now that's classy fungi.
Dissolved parliament
Pools of water mixed with Tang make out a faint yellow map of Malaysia, Hong Yi's birthplace.
Hong Yi used Nasi Lemak, considered to be the national dish of Malaysia,to create this iconic skyline of Kuala Lumpur. The dish is traditionally served with cucumber slices, small fried anchovies, roasted peanuts, hard boiled egg, rice cooked with coconut cream and sambal, a hot spicy sauce, wrapped in banana leaves. She adds "the banana leaf looks a little dirty and smudgy cos it's from my backyard and I didn't clean it well ... I think those white smudges are from the sap." That's one way to use home grown produce.
This final work is an acknowledgement to Hong Yi's 10,000 followers on Instagram where her handle is @redhongyi.
Here is Red Hong hard at work, picking out dragon fruit seeds for what will become the work for day nine.