Illustration And Our Favourite Foods Combine To Create Wild And Witty Instagram Snaps Food is big business on Instagram, from pictures of our favourite brunches to gourmet dinners, colossal creations and, of course, endless avocado. Yet in this oversaturated online market, Italian musician and artist, Diego Cusano, has managed to combine two of his passions to create food snaps which are totally unique. Diego’s imaginative food art reflects his playful personality, his fresh outlook on things, the inherent artist within. “Food is a very common thing, we don’t think about it”, he explains, “I wanted to show how everyday, mundane, objects could be used in a new way to create something completely uncommon”. From scotch eggs to fruit, fridge favourites are placed on top of Diego’s black-and-white illustrations – the 3D, colourful objects sit in stark contrast to the meticulously detailed sketches beneath them. The result is a zany and completely genius series of artwork which not only changes our perception of food but also our perception of the object, or animal, drawn. In fact, Diego’s work has become so popular that he now has a book called ‘Food Art and Fantasy’. Available to buy here, the book brings together a collection of the quirky art. Enter the surreal world of a food fantasist. We spoke to to the artist, who begun his career writing songs in his bedroom, about objects, one of which, being his book. The Plus: What brings your illustrations and objects together? Diego Cusano: It’s my vision of the reality: it starts when I see an object. and I suddenly see the illustration around it in my mind… it’s just a matter to draw what I see in my mind. TP: Do you use objects as reference or you draw first? DC: I always start from the object. TP: Tell us a little bit more about yourself. What’s your background and what do you do? DC: After the high school diploma in “Art and Restoration of Paintings” I moved to Perugia to attend Fine Arts Academy. During mornings and afternoons I was attending the lessons, during the night I was writing songs. TP: What are your hobbies? DC: I like very much music, cinema, to travel (it’s very important to get new inspirations) and to eat… of course! TP: Do you prefer working in minimalist style? DC: YES, definitively. I always choose black and white or monochromatic drawings around the object (that is the only part in colours) because I think that the result is more attractive. TP: Tell us a little bit about your book. DC: My book is made up by 68 pages and it’s structured like a restaurant’s menu: drawings are ordered according to the tradinal italian dish sequence, from appetizers to desserts and coffee. I spent around 3 weeks to complete the book, including revisions and corrections. The book has been presented last week to the worldwide famous “International Book Exhibition” in Turin and it has been officially published this week. TP: What next? DC: This is a surprise… may be another book, may be a song… may be other ideas I cannot disclose now.
