AN artist is using every day items most people throw away to create stunning artworks of famous faces.

    From buttons and abandoned Barbie heads to black beans and ketchup, artist Nadia Luongo crafts each piece using a mix of mad materials.

    Artworks are given names such as “Drew Berry-more,” “The Lord of the Onion Rings” and combine celebrity names and film titles with their food painting materials.

    Luongo, a graduate in Biomedical Engineering from Naples, Italy, has been passionate about drawing since childhood.

    Her unusual works take between 20 minutes to an hour to create and sell for around £15 (US$22.8) each.

    Her next project will be to make food artworks inspired by Quentin Tarantino movies.

    Luongo said, “I’ve dedicated myself to make some celebrities portraits using trash and some useless objects: bottle caps, buttons, beads, secondhand toys, recording tapes, pieces of clothes, newspapers and so on.

    “That’s a way for me to give new life to things that would normally be thrown away.

    “I’ve also approached food art, carving fruits and vegetables or drawing portraits with meals or drinks. I love cooking, so food art allows me to combine my passion for food and cooking with my passion for visual arts.

    “My works are mainly inspired by pop-culture: I portray music, cinema, cartoons and comic icons with different materials and techniques.

    “I really think that art can come from anywhere and inspiration can come even from the simple things we use every day.”

    Luongo said her work is a way to give new life to things that would normally be thrown away.

    In addition to the trash art, in recent years she’s done food art, carving fruits and vegetables and creating artistic compositions with food and drinks.

    (SD-Agencies)