Artist uses coffee as her medium / 咖啡豆作畫.雕塑 菲藝術家創意飄香　　　　　　　　　　

A Filipino artist, Ella Hipolito, uses coffee beans to make paintings and sculptures. Hipolito has exhibited her work in several galleries in the Philippines, with praise for her aromatic art work. A Filipino artist is making a different brew by creating artworks out of coffee beans. Advertising graduate Ella Hipolito combined her love for coffee and art by using different blends to make sculptures and paintings. ==ELLA HIPOLITO, artist== The coffee can be arabica, robusta, etc. but to create different textures, you need different grounds, like course or fine and then the tone can change depending on the roast, If you want a light, dark or medium roast. Sometimes I mix my own blend to achieve different shades. It takes her three to five days to finish a painting, mixing monochromatic shades and layering bits of ground coffee to add depth to her caffeinated pieces. Special preservatives were added to protect her paint from damage. Since starting in 2010, Hipolito has broadened her talent by sculpting pieces out of coffee beans, which she personally handpicks individually. Sculpting figures using wire and coffee takes double the time and effort, as every bean needs to be put perfectly into place. One of her most popular sculptures was the civet cat, an animal associated with coffee as it eats coffee berries and it's droppings are used to make coffee in the southern Philippines. ==ELLA HIPOLITO, artist== It's very experimental because coffee is not a commonly used instrument and you need to give your full attention in order to create different styles using coffee grounds. Her coffee beans are sourced from her friends who runs their own cafes, but she sometimes sources her own beans when she needs something specific. Her work fetches between US$100-$1200 depending on its size and intricacy. Hipolito has exhibited her work in several galleries in the Philippines, getting praise for her aromatic artworks. ==JOSH MOISES, Art Circle Gallery Manager== To think it's coffee. Coffee easily spoils and insects are attracted to it, so it's kind of challenging to create something that's different, to produce an outcome that's beautiful. Hipolito plans to further expand her love for coffee and experiment with different mediums TRANSLATED BY：JESSICA OY & CLARE LEAR