Good enough to eat! 'Willy Wonka' artist creates magical fairytale scenes using sweets, cheese and chocolate
By Rik Sharma
A word of warning - don't try and enjoy this art if you're hungry in case you end up trying to devour some of the work.
The 'Willy Wonka' of art has created some stunning scenes based around sweet treats, fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and more, for a new book.
Foodscape photographer Carl Warner, 47, is publishing 'A World of Food' which includes a Parisian boulevard made of cheese, a candy cottage and a forest of cucumbers.
Yellow Oasis: Carl Warner's artwork is based around food photography - this one uses cheese for pyramids, pasta for palm trees as well as lemons and peppers
Candy Cottage: A dentist's appointment might be necessary if you ever end up staying in this house comprised of marshmallows and nougat, with giant lollipop trees
Cucumber Bridge: By contrast you can go some way towards getting your five-a-day here, with cucumbers, lettuce and a broccoli forest contributing to this peaceful scene
Mr Warner, who works out of a London studio, said the new pieces were aimed at encouraging healthier eating among younger children - although some of the art involves naughtier options.
'I use my work as a vehicle to get kids to think about what they are eating,' he said. 'Kids will look at a pile of chips and tomato sauce and go ‘yummy yummy’.
'But show them a pile of asparagus and they will go "eurgh, yucky green food". It is almost like colour prejudice for food. But make asparagus become a rocket or turrets on a castle and it makes it much more engaging for them.'
Mr Warner, who compares his work to Willy Wonka’s creations in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, starts work by drawing his ideas on paper.
Chocolate Express: 'Choo-choo chew me up,' this delicious looking chocolate train seems to be saying - and if you still have room after that, why not feast your eyes upon the KitKat tracks
Chilli Pepper Scorpion: This spicy scene sees monumental meat rocks lurking behind the red scorpion, perched on top of a lychee
Corn Candle: A corn-on-the-cob illuminates the night sky, looking over a wall constructed of different types of nuts under a cornflake tree
He then buys the produce and spends between one and three days assembling it with the help of pins and superglue.
He then photographs it layer after layer from the foreground to the background and assembles them into one image in post-production.
Mr Warner, who was born in Liverpool, said the work rekindled the ‘childhood imagination’ in adults.
However, he said it had also resulted in a lot of unpleasant emails accusing him of ‘wasting food when children are starving’.
Main and dessert: The healthy looking Paris Boulevard (left) features cherries, broccoli and raspberries while Crockerville (right) looks far more sugary
Pumpkin Paradise: This scene features orange fruits and vegetables including pumpkin, carrots and apricots
'It is something I seem to get but I just think some people are being ignorant about what they are looking atand what it actually does,' he added.
He said many hospitals, nutritionists and charities had used his images to help people in positive way.
'I don’t consider it to be a waste of food just because it isn’t necessarily eaten - it is a very positive use,' he said.
Mr Warner is exhibiting some of his work at Westfield - Stratford City, London until November 11.
He will be giving talks from 1-5pm between Friday and Sunday.
Fishscape: This coastal view is made out of of fish, along with lettuce leaves and a small boats transporting peas
White Castle: Snowy ice cream treats make up most of this picture, which also features white chocolate and ice cream cones
Garlicshire: This photo shows what might prove to be a rather pungent place to live - even featuring a garlic moon
Mushroom Landscape: One for the funghi lovers, different types of musheroom have been shot together for this picture
Cart and Banana Balloon: Lush countryside is depicted here along with a banana hot air balloon in the foreground, with other fruits doing a similar job behind it |