Indonesian artist Ghidaq al-Nizar (aka @coffeetopia) began as a latte artist, but has taken his craft to another level by deconstructing frothy brews and utilizing their most basic component–coffee–as his medium of choice. Al-Nizar takes the steamy, soothing drink out of the cup and artistically applies it to an equally unconventional canvas–a leaf. The result is a series of sepia-toned scenes featuring a beautiful blend of nature and the pigmented, earthy, grainy remnants of a cup of coffee.
Despite the additional effort put in to create each piece, al-Nizar explains why he opts for coffee over traditional paints: “I love intimacy. I feel it with coffee and It’s fun to have fun with something you love. So I can’t find any better medium to celebrate my feelings. Artists have to feel when they do something, and I think it applies for everyone. I have tried to paint using other media but [I didn’t have any feelings for them]. If you can’t feel it, you will leave it.” Despite his unusual materials, al-Nizar still uses a paintbrush to leave his figurative impressions on each leaf.
Al-Nizar’s portfolio is filled with coffee stain paintings on canvases other than leaves, too.
The artist goes beyond working with liquid coffee and uses the actual grains they’re derived from, taking advantage of the visual strengths of each element.
