Heart and craft: Chronic illness and tiny art

Rose Young makes exquisitely detailed sculptures of very tiny food. Photo / Supplied

27-year-old Rose Young has been busy making tiny things lately. Her deliciously detailed morsels have just arrived on Instagram, capturing the attention of the Herald. We spoke to Rose about her new project and found there's a big story behind the tiny portions.

Rose grew up in a creative Wellington household; her mother is an art teacher and her father a copywriter, "so it was no surprise my brother and I grew up to be creatives as well".

Portrait of the artist Rose Young. Photo / Jenn Hadley

That brother, Tom Young, is best known by his stage name Tommy Ill, the rapper who has toured extensively and released three albums. However, his focus has recently turned to building "very addictive game apps".

Rose studied drama and radio broadcasting before moving into a short career as a copywriter "which I loved, however chronic illness meant I had to stop working".

"I have had to stop a lot of things I loved in the last five or so years due to severe heart disease and a chronic pain condition which means that some days I can barely function."

Long term projects are near unthinkable for Rose.

"I have had to learn to appreciate short-term things because committing to anything is difficult. I almost exclusively read short stories and essays because I can't commit to finishing novels. My art is something I can do from home, and I can fit it into my life the way I want to."

There's a corporeal attachment to the pieces too.

"The thing I love the most about these Tiny Portions is finishing them, not because I don't enjoy the process but it is a tiny victory for me every time I complete without my body stopping me with pain or palpitation. My latest piece, (sushi and ramen) is the first one I have made in about three weeks. I have nerve pain in my right arm which was making it almost impossible for me to pick up a pencil let alone make tiny shrimp. So the sushi and ramen was a test, it might not seem much, but to me it was a bit of a triumph really."

Another triumph is how quickly she taught herself. Rose found inspiration through a mixture of childhood nostalgia, social media, and Tokyo.

"When I was a kid I was always fascinated by dollhouses and model railroads. My parents would take me to the trade shows at the Lower Hutt Horticultural Hall, and I would get lost in little worlds created by old men in basements. That fascination never really disappeared. There's something that happens to our brains when we see things in a tiny scale, like that part of our minds where our imagination used to live is briefly lit up again. It's amazing seeing grown men turn into sparkly-eyed little boys when they see my Tiny Portions.

"We are also living in an interesting period where people feel the need to take photos of what they are eating and broadcast it to the world. In a time when the middle class is disappearing and I sometimes have to question if I can afford to eat meat this week, I find this display of health and wealth very strange."

And it was a trip to Japan that led to her discovery of plastic food and a big community dedicated to small things.

"I went to Tokyo in 2008 and adored that they had plastic replicas of the food they sold in each restaurant, I then discovered this crazy-huge community of people who made food in miniature and I was like 'I can probably do that'."

Though she has "mucked around" with sculpture in the past, she didn't have any formal art training.

The process was "a lot of trial and error to be honest". Rose used a few YouTube tutorials and began to develop a technique.

"I use something called Polymer clay, which is a bakeable clay that comes in many colours. I usually shade everything with pastels. I also use a liquid clay, wood, card, plastics and miniature ceramics which I buy from China. Each piece can take from five to 15 hours depending on the detail."

So far, each Tiny Portion piece has been a commission. Making them wearable is optional.
"I have made donut earrings and a brooch platter of pastries for my aunt - which is apparently a very good conversation piece."

See more of Rose Young's Tiny Portions on Instagram