They are eatable art installations that are primarily made out of Chinese herbal jelly. The simple, geometric formation of the jelly becomes the inspiration of architecture, product design or dessert making. The intention of the minimal form is to prove that different medias can share a common visual language. This series is also a fusion of eastern traditional material and western modern style, as a result, it becomes eatable art which gives audiences experience of both visual and taste.

This series is willing to give the audiences an experience about "time", "life" and “volatility". Based on the main material - Chinese herbal jelly, which possesses very short term of life of maintaining its perfect, glossy and fragile appearance, it would transform itself gradually through the power of time. A fresh new herbal jelly has a mysterious look, since it is a half-reflective dark object and it’s very vulnerable. It reflects the environment and meanwhile presents distorted image with a depth, where it resembles a black hole that absorbs light.

Material: Chinese herbal jelly, condensed milk, tofu, water.

Tools: Nikon D610, photoshop.

I made the jelly using Gui Ling Gao powder, xanthan gum, Carboxy Methyl Cellulose, and different molds to sculpt the shapes. When I need, I use fishing line to cut the jello so it has more complex form. Once the installation is settled, I use my camera in setting with the lowest ISO(100) to shoot as clearest image as possible, so the herbal jelly has a glossy and reflective surface in the photo.

The final step is post-production in Adobe Photoshop, and the goal is to reducing any unnecessary elements and creating extreme simplicity.

People find my projects primarily from Behance and my website. The most feedback I received is that the work uniquely combines Chinese traditional material and western contemporary style, also they're curious how a piece of art installation would taste like.

Miao Zhao

Miao Zhao is a New York based artist who originally came from Beijing, China. His primary medias are photography, installation and painting. Based on his background, he has been trying to bridge western and eastern cultural elements in special visual languages. He is also passionate about photographing fragile objects that come with short sustainability and converting them into immortal images. His recent series: universe, architecture and dessert shows how installation art could inspire the making of dessert, the design of product and architecture. From some of his ink artworks, he shows a unique form that combines western erotic images and Chinese water-ink techniques. Besides his artist’s life, he also worked as a graphic designer in several companies such as Atlantic Records, Effy Jewelry and Amika.

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