Food for thought: TN artist carves vegetable, fruit art with social messages

Hailing from Gudalur town in Theni district, about 560km southwest of Chennai, M Elanchezhian grew up around fresh vegetables and fruit. “I started trying to carve letters and figures on the vegetables as a hobby, and eventually decided to make vegetable and fruit carving as my profession. I learnt that with just a 15-day course, anyone can learn the necessary skills to carve food. After opting for it, there was no looking back, as I have been teaching carving at a hotel management institute in Mumbai. I see the craft as a way of giving out socially relevant messages in a creative way and I try to incorporate awareness on peace, science, voting, health, traffic rules, etc. through my carvings,” 32-year-old Elanchezhian tells DT Next.

In his career spanning 15 years, he says his recent carvings of the portraits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of their visit to the city on October 11 for an informal summit in Mamallapuram, won him a lot of fandom on social media as the images were shared virally. “I did not imagine the such overwhelming response to the carvings. All I wanted to do was welcome the leaders with my art. I received messages from many Chinese nationals, complimenting me on the work. The love that I received for the carvings of PM Modi and President Xi makes me feel that my hard work over the past 15 years has paid off,” he rejoices.

Carved on watermelons, the sculptures of the two world leaders took Elanchezhian about four hours to complete. A sketch based on their photograph is first traced on to the fruit and then carved gently using special carving knives. “Since I could not show the carvings to PM Modi and President Xi, I am planning to send them a message via Twitter with images of their carvings,” he says. In the past, the artist-chef had also carved images of other political leaders onto melons and pumpkins. They include that of the former US President Barack Obama during his visit to India in 2015, 100 different carvings of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Dr MG Ramachandran for his birth centenary celebrations, sculptures of former Indian President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam among others.

Elanchezhian is also a master at using the knife blindfolded or even with his mouth. “I wanted to demonstrate that if I could do it, anyone can. I wanted it to be an encouragement for the differently-abled persons to take up vegetable carving,” he says. The artist set a global record in 2013 for being one of the first carvers to sculpt fruits and vegetables by holding a knife in his mouth and for using 10,000 kilos of fruits for world peace awareness in 2015. He also judged carving competitions held in Taiwan earlier as a judge representing India.

Since he only carves the skin of the fruits and vegetables, Elanchezhian maintains that there is no wastage and that they can be consumed after display. “The art is inexpensive, and anyone practising it can consume the fruits and vegetables as salads after carving them. The art is also calming as it requires focus while working,” he adds.