There's Always Room For J-E-L-L-O Art

San Francisco

People over the years have found many uses for Jell-O, some more vulgar than others, but artist Liz Hickok has created an entire scene of San Francisco out of Jell-O.

San Francisco in Jello

Working in photography, video, sculpture, installation and now Jell-O, Liz received her Masters in Fine Arts from Mills College in Oakland, California and her BFA and BA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. Her artwork has been shown across the country and also in international collections. Her San Francisco in Jell-O series has become a popular subject in the media and has been featured all over the place.

Twin Peaks

She writes: “I create glowing, jellied scale models of urban sites, transforming ordinary physical surroundings into something unexpected and ephemeral. Lit from below, the molded shapes of the city blur into a jewel-like mosaic of luminous color and volume. The gelatinous material also evokes uncanny parallels with the geological uncertainties of San Francisco’s landscape. While the translucent beauty of the compositions first seduces the viewer, their fragility quickly becomes a metaphor for the transitory nature of human artifacts.”

Ferry Building

“I have always been interested in architectural scale models of cities, and how photography can play with the viewer’s sense of scale, blurring differences between the real city and the constructed one. Once I began building my own model cities out of Jell-O I found that the jiggly, iconic childhood dessert is not only perishable, but also uncontrollable. Each time I take a picture of one of my cityscapes any building may begin to sweat or even liquefy, taking on a new persona.”

City Hall

Alamo Square

Bay Bridge

View From Alcatraz

How fun this must be, to create art from Jell-O. I’m sure it’s all wobbly and wiggly, which makes me want to dive right into it. But then I’d ruin the artwork, and that wouldn’t be nice. But I’d be slathered in Jell-O, which might make it all worth it….

What do you think of this Jell-O artwork? My favorite is definitely the view from Alcatraz.

Check out more of Liz Hickok's Jell-O artwork at her website.