Kerala artist creates 24 feet long portrait of Theyyam using 25,000 biscuits

Artist P K Suresh, popularly known as ‘Da Vinci Suresh’ has brought out another artwork as part of his mission to create portraits using 100 different mediums. Previously, he had made a portrait of Mammootty using 600 mobile phones, Kathakali using various plants and former president APJ Abdul Kalam with gold ornaments. This time, Suresh has created a 24ft portrait of a Theyyam figure’s face using 25,000 biscuits. 

The lifelike detailings were conceived with the help of ‘Bake story’ bakery and chef Rasheed Muhammed. “This is my 79th medium. I had the idea of creating Theyyam long back. When I narrowed down the medium to biscuits, my friend Gokulam Ratheesh suggested approaching Bake Story. Being the indigenous art form of North Malabar, Theyyam really stood out,” says Suresh.

It took three hours for Suresh to finish sketching on the 4ft white sheet. Suresh and his team- artist Shaiju K Maloor, Febi and cameraman Simbad, placed the biscuit on tables. “The 1.5 and 2.5 inch sized biscuits were baked under the guidance of Chef Rasheed. To cover the details, 15,000 biscuits were baked, but we had to source 10,000 more from their outlets to finish the portrait,” he says.

To make the portrait look good, the biscuits were made giving more importance to its colour, rather than ingredients. It took 15 hours for the team to finish the massive portrait. Interestingly, the team could complete it around 3 am, the hour when Theyyam is usually performed. “This is easily one of the most detailed artworks I have done so far using different mediums,” adds Suresh.

The used biscuits weren’t discarded. Instead, the team at Bake story gave them to a veterinary farm. “After biodegrading, the product can be given as cattle feed,” says Suresh. DaVinci who is a sculptor by profession has been making artworks, mainly portraits of celebrities using different mediums since the age of 18. The idea of creating artworks using 100 mediums came into form during the advent of lockdown. So far, Suresh has created 80 artworks, the latest being 152 ft tall, made from one lakh balloons.