Manami Sasaki makes food art out of her breakfast.

Manami Sasaki has turned her morning routing of toasting slices of bread into art during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown. Manami, a japanese designer and artist, uses each slice of bread as a canvas to create different food art that are both beautiful and edible. To create each piece, Sasaki uses ingredients such as tomatoes, nuts, sour cream and edible gold leaf. Manami Sasaki derives inspiration from Japanese rock gardens (枯山水, karesansui) one day to Bruno Munari’s tile projects the next.

For someone that has never seen your artwork, how would you describe it?

My artwork is for breakfast. Before the lockdown, I had easily skipped meals, in between my busy routine. For example, at a convenience store or a fast food meal. I was living a busy life on a daily basis, assuming that I was optimizing, rationalizing and minimizing my mealtime.

But in this situation, I've learned to value the rhythm of the day. I get up early in the morning and stick to my breakfast. My mind feels at ease with the richness that comes from taking the time to do this.

What were you working on before lockdown?

Prior to Lockdown, I worked in an office as a designer and the rest of the time I was working as an artist. Now that I'm working from home as a designer. I'm taking a little time off from making other artwork to make time for toast.

What are the rest of your plans for 2020?

The first goal is to exhibit the "FACE to FACE" series of works that I am currently working on. (It's not toast art, it's just another piece.) I also belong to an artist group, so I would like to be active there as well.

What artists are you inspired by in your work?

The artist I was inspired by was James Turrell, who had a few works in Japan that I went to see. There's so much to learn from the world artist's thoughts, but it's his work that strikes a chord with me.

I also work as a designer. The article and the talk show of Kotaro Watanabe, a Japanese context designer, are made to go. His broad and flexible thinking is inspiring. It's great that he makes things that have form and sometimes don't, all of which people love.

unagilife is a website for recommendations to those inspired by Japanese aesthetic and lifestyle. What would you recommend to our readers?

I love Japanese culture, but I find the zen garden very interesting. Not a gorgeous view, but a calming space. This is the Zen culture, the unique Japanese wabi-sabi. I think it's even more necessary in today's world to get to the point where you can look at yourself.

For more food art from Minami Sasaki, click here.