In a four-part series, Digital Journal is profiling edgy and unusual artists who are breaking the rules of art and design. Discover how these bold artists are creating epic masterpieces in various media.
Digital Journal — If you’ve ever seen a kid stick a piece of chewed gum on a wall in a brazen act of laziness, reconsider how quick you judge the miscreant. He could be inspired by the artwork of Jason Kronenwald, who creates celebrity portraits out of chewed bubble gum. Comprised solely of masticated gum, his pieces are extraordinary examples of art flexing its imagination to come up with familiar faces made from unique material.
“A Fresh Pack of Gum Blondes” is a gallery exhibit currently on display at Toronto’s
LE Gallery until June 29. Following Kronenwald’s motive to create portraits of blonde celebrities, his recent batch of confectionaried characters include Princess Di, Hillary Clinton, Lindsay Lohan and Avril Lavigne.
Photo courtesy Jason Kronenwald Jason Kronenwald makes celebrity portraits out of chewed bubble gum.
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Each portrait is made from chewed gum plastered on plywood. As the gallery blurb explains: “No paint or dye is used. The colour is inherent to the gum–the mixing of colour takes place inside the mouth during chewing.”
Now you’re probably wondering how sore Kronenwald’s jaw must be after chewing all that gum. In an interview with DigitalJournal.com, he says he gets some help. “I have some very dedicated friends who like free gum and giving me a hand,” says Kronenwald, who lives in Toronto after receiving his BA in Fine Arts from Kingston’s Queens University.
He says he tries to do as little chewing as possible because it’s already inundating to manipulate the saliva-soaked gum with his fingers. “At times it can disgust me but I just focus on the colours I need and get the portrait going.”
Photo courtesy Jason Kronenwald Jason Kronenwald makes celebrity portraits out of chewed bubble gum.
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Working with gum since 1996, Kronenwald softens the candy in water in order to smooth the surfaces. He uses epoxy resin to protect and harden the gum. He mainly sculpts the gum with his fingers, but sometimes uses a Swiss Army knife for finer details.
He prefers playing with Bubblicious and Bubble Tape, particularly the grape Tape. He can create a black shade with the purple flavour, or mix it with dark green to create a brown.
“I mainly need gum that feels comfortable in my hand, that keeps its consistency,” Kronenwald says.
Photo courtesy Jason Kronenwald Jason Kronenwald makes celebrity portraits out of chewed bubble gum.
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Focusing on blonde women plays on the term “bubble gum blonde” but there was also a deeper reasoning. “These portraits are a commentary on how we consume these celebrities like candy. They affect us immensely because our appetite for news about them is always growing.”
He chose to “paint” Britney and Paris together in a portrait because their recent night on the town surged into a massive media sensation. He targeted Hillary Clinton because of her iconic role in today’s political scene. And he even went retro by re-inventing
Veronica Lake with bubble gum: “She ushered in the hairstyle of bangs covering one eye. We’ve seen Gwen Stefani and other pop acts copy her hairstyle.”
You’d expect Kronenwald’s unique technique and high-profile subject matter would attract sponsorship from various gum companies. He admits several businesses have approached him but he’s turned them down. “I do what I do for my own reason and I never felt comfortable aligning myself with companies who have different intentions than I do,” he says.
Photo courtesy Jason Kronenwald Jason Kronenwald makes celebrity portraits out of chewed bubble gum.
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He has sold 50 of the 65 “Gum Blondes” he has created, receiving between $1,000 and $2,500 for each piece. He doesn’t sell enough art to make a living with his gummy portrait, so he works part-time in interior design. He says he doesn’t want to rely on his art to make money, which adds more pressure to the creative process.
Pablo Picasso once said, “Good artists copy. Great artists steal.” And Kronenwald does his share of stealing, albeit the legal kind — he steals the faces of notorious blondes and steals gum from his friends’ mouths to produce his fascinating artwork. To Kronenwald, it’s all about perspective.
“Some people see chewed gum as garbage,” he says, “but to me, it really has just begun its life.”
To see more of Jason Kronenwald's artwork, visit his website.
Offbeat Artist Series
This is the second profile in a four-part series on unique talents who are rattling the artistic cage. Every day, read about a new rebel artist. Tomorrow, discover the unusual world of upside-down art.
Other Offbeat Artists:
-
Phil Toledano, photographing the faces of phone sex: Ever wondered who makes a living being a phone sex operator? In an intimate photo book, Phil Toledano captures the people behind sensual fantasies.
- Arvind Narale, the Topsy Turvy Master:
Meet the man who makes upside down art
- Jay Shafer, the man who builds
homes that are under 100 square feet. Could you live in a tiny house?
