Art News

Humble Cabbage Becomes Art

BEIJING (REUTERS).- Ju Duoqi stocks up on cabbages in the Beijing vegetable market and then transforms the humble vegetables into works of art depicting beautiful women — that sometimes leave very little to the imagination. The 38-year-old said she started using cabbages in her work five years ago when she was looking for a way to bring her art together with everyday life. “Cabbages come in different sizes and colors. Under different light and in different contexts, I can make cabbages into various forms and take photos of them that produce different moods,” Ju said. She often spends hours in the market picking out cabbages that reflect the curves of a woman’s body, or that can be cut to make limbs or other accessories, using a combination of round cabbage and longer, slim “celery” cabbage. Back in her studio on Beijing’s outskirts, Ju uses toothpicks and knives to reshape the cabbage leaves to represent different parts of the body — carving tiny hands, say, or using individua