It looks like a photograph of Mars, but it’s not.  That’s actually 12 pounds of cinnamon, charcoal, paprika, thyme, and chili powder artfully arranged into a harsh, desert landscape.  It’s one of the many strange worlds depicted by artist Matthew Albanese in his collection titled (appropriately enough) Strange Worlds.   Albanese uses everyday materials to construct tiny landscapes, almost like dioramas, then he positions his camera and snaps the picture, turning spices and glue into interplanetary exploration.

There have been other artists who work with food, but nothing quite like this.  It’s one thing to mash some cantaloupe and strawberries together to make a fruit salad that looks like London, but it’s another thing to create photo realistic landscapes out of clumps of spice and grilling coals.  Just the manipulation of the photographs is an artistic success, and that’s before you even get to the process of making the tiny landscapes.

Tags: art, Strange Worlds, Matthew Albanese, miniatures, landscapes, tiny landscape portraits, dioramas, unusual art, sci-fi art

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