Photo: Catherine McEver

Food as art isn't a totally new concept. Yet I can't help but be amazed by the work of three creators who are using everyday ingredients in totally new ways. Oakland, Calif., artist Catherine McEver has made art of out everything from bologna to swiss cheese. Her latest obsession? Wonder Bread. So far, McEver has designed Barbie clothes using the bag that holds the iconic loaf, sculpted people and animals out of balled up bread and embroidered flowers and other designs onto slices. And although McEver figured her works would eventually go moldy or decompose, the bread has actually demonstrated a wonder-ful longevity. She's had some slices five years.


[Next, photos of potatoes that have ...antlers?.]

Photo: Uli Westphal

For Berlin artist Uli Westphal, it's warts-and-all produce that is most interesting. The photographs in his Mutato Project, such as a potato with legs and antlers (in addition to eyes), and one cucumber that actually looks like it might be two, are not only beautiful to look at, but they have a message, too: Westphal began the project after realizing that the produce you buy in most grocery stores has been regulated by the government to look pristine. It's a reminder that a mushroom with two stems can just be born that way.

Photo: Christopher Boffoli

Finally, Seattle photographer Christopher Boffoli's Disparity series shows tiny model railroad figures with life-size pieces of food. There's a man and a woman hugging inside a clam shell, scuba divers about to descend into a cup of Earl Grey and a golfer about to take a swing atop a cupcake. It's Gulliver's Travels in the land of milk and honey. Boffoli's art has been seen around the world, and now he's getting calls from journalists from England to Peru asking what the social message is behind his work. "Did you do this to make a comment about overconsumption in America?" Nope, says Boffoli. He just did it because it was fun.