Pop artist Jason Mecier creates mosaic portraits that are fun, outrageous and fitting for his subjects of celebrities in pop culture. His most recent collection Candylebrity will be shown at Sweet! in Hollywood through September 25 with more than 20 candy mosaics.
Instead of using more traditional mediums for his work, Jason uses things like garbage and food, a mosaic-making technique using readily available materials that he was encouraged to explore by his grandmother when he was young.
Jason has been using mostly candy of late, but is also known for making other hilarious choices, including bacon for his portrait of Kevin Bacon. Some subjects from his most recent collection include the cast from Orange is the New Black, James Franco, Andy Cohen and Miley Cyrus.
On average, Jason’s pieces take 50 hours of work and range from two-feet by two-feet up to four feet, and many of his pieces have been purchased by his subjects over the years, including Phyllis Diller, Rosie O’Donnell, Farrah Fawcett, Pink, George Lopez and Ricki Lake.
We caught up with the artist to get some insight on his process:
Are there any challenges using food to make art?
I have a really good shellac and I’ve had pieces last 20 years, but it is food art, so I don’t make any guarantees.
What are your creative inspirations?
I love Pop culture and sexy people. Basically, if I see you on TV and you’re cute, then you’re up for consideration.
Do you have to get into portrait making mood or is it always there for you?
I can work on these candy portraits any time of the day. Other mediums are more challenging and I have to really get into work mode to do it.
Do you come up with a subject first or do you see something and feel inspired about how it would shade a particular someone’s face?
It’s really based on whoever I like or like to look at, or like to hate, or like their music. I like to have a wide cross section of subject matter—Abby Lee Miller, James Franco, Miley Cyrus, Breaking Bad and Lisa Vanderpump. I give them all equal weight and the juxtaposition of all these characters is what I think makes an interesting statement.”
How do you choose what look to use for each celebrity?
I like to match each person with the best medium, like Kevin Bacon in bacon, Snoop Dogg in weed, Honey Boo Boo in trash and Zach Galifinakas in gummy bears.”
Anything else you’d like to add?
I’d love to trade art with James Franco!
