Sculpted Sushi Made Entirely From Natural Polished Stones

all images courtesy the artist

Bite into this sushi and you’ll not only lose your appetite but probably a tooth. Each piece is made from natural stone, hand-polished by an art student who created the series for his graduating thesis exhibition.

The artist, who goes by the name Hama, is a graduating senior from art school who created this series of hand-polished sushi stones during the pandemic-induced lockdown and subsequent remote learning. It may be heard to believe, but all the rich colors you see are from natural stones – no paints or artificial coloring of any kind was used.

Close observers will notice that among the sushi are body parts like ears, lips, nose and a finger. The artist says that the series – both the fish but also the body parts – were inspired by his part-time work in the seafood industry where he saw so much life being ended and then thrown out without even being eaten. Creating body parts as pieces of sushi was the artist’s way of reminding us that much of the food we eat was once alive, and that we all need to do our part to combat food waste.

The artist’s work is part of Join Graduation Exhibition of 5 Art Universities in Tokyo, taking place at the National Art Center through February 27, 2021. You can also keep up with the artist on Twitter.

In Japan, early spring is graduation seasons so around this time of year we often feature some of our favorite student work from the thesis exhibitions of Japanese art and design universities. You can find all our previous posts here.