Tiny Food Art That Looks Good Enough to Eat
In a little one-bedroom apartment in Tel Aviv, miniaturist Shay Aaron is creating realistic one-of-a-kind food sculptures and turning them into wearable art on his Etsy Shop. He sculpts his food on a 1:12 scale so his dishes are as small as a dime and no bigger than a matchstick.
“My background is actually in arts and theatre,” he told Yahoo Food. Fresh out of high school Aaron worked as a director’s assistant creating small-scale creatures. “I was asked by a client to create miniature replica of the Passover Seder plate. Once I made the realistic platter I knew that I want to put my effort in miniature food.”
Using polymer clay called Fimo he’s able to create miniscule meals and items ranging from sushi and layered cakes to more complex favorites like roast chicken, breakfast trays and even oysters. “Although everyone enjoys miniatures, most of them wouldn't collect them,” he said. Aaron did the next best thing and turned them into jewelry, hairpins, and accessories. “Even men would wear my food. I found that husbands enjoy wearing pizza cuff links, or a cauliflower tie tack pin.”
The time it takes to create his miniatures all depends on the dish. “One chocolate chip cookie would take about 10 minutes to make, but a whole cake of Black Forest would take few days from start to finish,” he explained. "I work in this scale by using tools such as toohtpicks and tweezers."
We immediately wanted to know how he felt about turning his tiny art into actual edible food and showed him HelloDenizen’s tiny hamster eating tiny burritos video. “I love this video so much! Especially the crayon dining table!" he said. "I never thought of making my miniatures edible … how unfortunate it would be for me if someone would crush my miniature piece in one bite. Days of work on a tiny piece were just gone. Ouch!”
As he wraps up his final semester of stage and costume design school, he is planning to hit the beach and pay a visit to Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, a scenographic event that takes place this summer. “Becoming a scenic designer is a big dream for years, but I know I won't stop creating miniature food.”
To see more of the miniaturist's work you can follow him on Facebook and Instagram or order your own creation from the artist himself at his Etsy Shop: Shay Aaron Miniatures.
More stories where food and art collide:
Rice Krispie’s Treats as works of art?
How 98 identical food cubes were made
Why These Photos of Neatly Arranged Food Are So Satisfying
