For most of us, spilling some sugar or cinnamon on the glass of our scanner would be an accident. For photographer Navid Barraty, it's art. Barraty uses ordinary food, kitchen staples and other odd bits and pieces along with his Epson scanner to create enchanting cosmic worlds. Pancakes become planets, potatoes become asteroids and cat fur – yes cat fur – helps create a striking nebula.
Barraty, who's based in Seattle, Washington, created an initial series of cosmic kitchen art early last year. He just reached out to Gizmag to let us know that he's done it again, this time with even more tricks up his sleeve and more realistic renderings. All of the art is included under the overarching concept of an make-believe mission called Wormhole-Accelerated Nomad Delivering Reconnaissance, or Wander, which you can check out on his Facebook page.
"My methods have definitely evolved a bit with this new series," Baraty told Gizmag. "I learned how to make nebulas! I use a clear tray that I fill with various liquids and then scan, and it creates some quite realistic looking nebulas. I actually got the inspiration for this when I noticed the swirls coffee cream makes when poured into a hot cup of coffee.
I also made my first planets using something other than liquids in a glass – pancakes! I discovered that pancakes work amazingly well as planets and moons because of their texture and random variation of details on their surfaces formed from the frying pan."
While that give away some of Baraty's secrets, have a look at the new series and see if you can guess what the images are comprised of – before you read the captions.
For most of us, spilling some sugar or cinnamon on the glass of our scanner would be an accident. For photographer Navid Barraty, it's art. Barraty uses ordinary food, kitchen staples and other odd bits and pieces along with his Epson scanner to create enchanting cosmic worlds. Pancakes become planets, potatoes become asteroids and cat fur – yes cat fur – helps create a striking nebula.
Barraty, who's based in Seattle, Washington, created an initial series of cosmic kitchen art early last year. He just reached out to Gizmag to let us know that he's done it again, this time with even more tricks up his sleeve and more realistic renderings. All of the art is included under the overarching concept of an make-believe mission called Wormhole-Accelerated Nomad Delivering Reconnaissance, or Wander, which you can check out on his Facebook page.
"My methods have definitely evolved a bit with this new series," Baraty told Gizmag. "I learned how to make nebulas! I use a clear tray that I fill with various liquids and then scan, and it creates some quite realistic looking nebulas. I actually got the inspiration for this when I noticed the swirls coffee cream makes when poured into a hot cup of coffee.
I also made my first planets using something other than liquids in a glass – pancakes! I discovered that pancakes work amazingly well as planets and moons because of their texture and random variation of details on their surfaces formed from the frying pan."
While that give away some of Baraty's secrets, have a look at the new series and see if you can guess what the images are comprised of – before you read the captions.