These aren't exactly new, but they are way too cool not to share. San Francisco-based, self-taught artist Jason Mecier creates celebrity portraits out of unconventional materials. From Jerry Seinfeld rendered in cereal to Hugh Hefner made out of old Playboy magazines, Mecier seems to have something for everyone. Each portrait takes at least 50 hours, and much longer for larger, more detailed images. Mecier gathers materials from thrift stores and sometimes even from the celebrities themselves. As for his background and using celebrities as his primary subject matter, Mecier explains, "Though I have no formal art training, I did have an excellent mentor in my grandmother, Anita Tollefson. When I was young, I remember being mesmerized by her paintings, weavings, mosaics, sculptures, collages, and stained glass work that filled my grandparents' house and yard. If Anita was working on an art project, she would set me up at a nearby table with a project of my own to work on. One of my earliest pieces, is a mosaic made from beans, noodles, rocks, and cut bamboo sticks glued on a piece of wood. My grandmother encouraged me to create masterpieces using materials readily available to me. She would rather paint on the back of her cigarette cartons than buy a canvas. I learned from her that I can make art out of anything I want to, and that there are no rules…As a kid I remember obsessively clipping and scrap-booking pictures from the TV Guide of my favorite shows. In high school I did pencil drawings of my favorite record covers like The Rolling Stones, Olivia Newton-John and Pat Benatar. Later I did a series of psychedelic collages using Charlie's Angels trading cards and picture of Florence Henderson from the Wesson Oil coupons and ads. Soon I was arranging beans and noodles into larger portraits of these icons. It just exploded from there!"
Don't worry about Mecier's food-based portraits getting bug infestations or mold – he uses an acrylic sealant for edible materials.
There was actually a short documentary on the construction of this portrait of Amy Sedaris.
All of these are awesome, but obviously my favorites are the portraits from his makeup series. It's one thing to create a portrait out of makeup products, but it's quite another to form a mosaic by incorporating the outer packaging in addition to the makeup itself.
(images from jasonmecier.com)
Mecier says that he "enjoy[s] trying to match the perfect items, colors, and themes with the essence of each unique subject." To that end, might I suggest that he continue this series with some other modern iconic beauty looks? I'd love to see Rihanna with her blue lipstick or Joan Smalls with violet lips. He also takes commissions, so I'm seriously considering asking him to make me a portrait of Babo using various cookies. 😉
What do you think of these? And who would you like to see in makeup or other materials?