10 Vegetable Portraits Of People Kissing That I Made

I've always felt that canvas and paint were limiting because they were meant only for creating masterpieces. However, when creating from everyday objects, they can be returned to their original place, reused, or even eaten. Realizing that I can create with anything has liberated me since it doesn't require special preparation, only observation.

For each portrait, the creative process began with a photo of a couple. Sometimes, the couples sent me their own pictures, but I often took the photos myself. From there, I carefully considered which vegetables would be most suitable for each part of the drawing. Planning was crucial and had to be done before I started cutting the vegetables, as the cut pieces changed quickly at room temperature.

Typically, I completed one portrait per day, and the cutting process itself took around five hours. After completing the artwork, I photographed everything and then ate it.

It always brings me joy when I am able to tame unexpected materials. Each creation comes with its own set of nuances and problems that require solutions. The more complex and ambitious a work is, the more issues arise, as every object needs to be carefully considered and integrated into the composition. Sometimes, specific items need to be found to fulfill a particular part of the drawing. However, what truly brings me the most happiness is when the creation materializes and becomes a drawing after a long period of contemplating every detail. It's very satisfying to see everything I imagined in such detail come to life.

At the moment, I have a few ongoing projects. One of my recent pieces is called "(Not) Eternal Values," which aims to encourage people to reflect on the waste that outlives us. Often, we use things in our lives for a very short time, and this waste exists almost forever. It was valuable for a very short time but becomes a pile of rubbish afterward. 

Landfill soil is a new material that was created by our society. It’s soil mixed with microplastics, and we have no tools to clean it out to its previous state. The human skull is an eternity and revival symbol, also the most important and recognizable thing for humans themselves. Future scientists will find the layer of mixed plastics and soil and identify our society by it. We will be the generation that changed the planet. 

I understand that every move, even the creative one, increases waste, and we should be aware of it every time. 

My other project is "REBIRTH" BIRDBOXES. From the area near Lviv that was bombed more than a month ago, we brought the rubble of houses and fragments of Russian rockets that blew those houses up. Seeing and touching these objects is like feeling a wound that we cannot heal. The objects tell stories of just a few houses, but there are countless destroyed homes in Ukraine.

In one case, grownup children handed over the wreckage of the house of their dead parents. Five people were killed and two others were injured when the rockets landed. As they cleaned up what was left of their childhood home, they told us about each item. A great-grandmother's watch, cot, doorpost with the key still in the lock, back of the owner's bed, part of the carpet, and remains of doors and windows. All there. 

We used the wreckage to make birdboxes for nesting. Now these objects, marked by severe pain, will once again be a home and a shelter for someone. Even things that are irreparably destroyed can act as symbols of freedom, inspire hope, and call for rebirth.

These birdboxes are small monuments to the unimaginable strength of Ukrainians. They're graves, cradles of new life, and memorials at the same time. The birds that will eventually inhabit them will remind us that we must help the country to be truly reborn. After Ukraine wins, it will need resources to rebuild itself. All seven nesting boxes will be put up for virtual auction. The money raised will go to the "Stiprūs Kartu" ("Strong Together") account to support children who have lost their parents in this war.