Yummy, Yummy Gummi: California Sculptor’s Work Hits Sweet Spot With Curators And Spectators

LOS ANGELES (TNA) -- Great art is meant to last forever, so why not make a chandelier out of Gummi Bears?

It’s not as crazy as it sounds. Los Angeles-based artist Yanan "Yaya" Chou, 32, used 30 pounds of them to make such a thing in 2005, and apparently, it’s still holding up pretty well.

"Most people worry about the lifespan of the chandelier, but right now I’m saying 20 years or maybe forever," Chou said. "For the past two-and-a-half years, I haven’t seen much difference other than the green color’s kind of faded a little bit. But texture-wise and shape-wise, it holds pretty well."

Gummi Bear, killed and skinned

The Gummi Bear work, however, has made the biggest visual impact so far, scoring a mention on renowned techno-geek culture blog boingboing.net in March and winning the attention of nightclub designer Charles Doell, who’s earmarked her work for future projects.

Reactions to the work have spanned the spectrum from disgust to enchantment, which suits her fine.

"Half the people look at it and say, ‘I will never eat Gummi Bears anymore,’" Chou said. "But for people who love it, that’s what attracts them and brings back memories and they have to go out and get Gummi Bears. So I’m pretty open for whatever the reactions are. I don’t want to be doctrinaire about them."

As for Haribo, the official manufacturer of Gummi Bears, apparently, the bigwigs can’t be bothered.

"Basically, the lady [I talked to] said, ‘Oh, it’s interesting. I’ll forward the pictures to my boss.’ Nothing ever happened. So I don’t think they’re really interested in art at all. I’m just glad they didn’t sue me," Chou said.

So she’s continued to make variations on the theme: a Gummi bear rug, Gummi deer, a Gummi baby sculpture and a polymer clay Gummi mommy. Several were exhibited this summer in Pasadena’s Homestead Building as part of Los Angeles’s Phantom Galleries initiative, which places fine art in storefronts across the city.

Of course, artists do not live on Gummi bears alone, and Yaya’s mindful not to let her current focus last beyond its shelf life.

"I’m kind of still in the beginning stage," she says of her career. "I think it’s good for all the press. Of course, [that] never hurts. [But] for me, it’s always very important to work on different material based on whatever inspired me."

So what’s next for Yaya? In August, she’ll premiere a series of molded glass babies filled with Pepto-Bismol, funded by Downtown Artists Project and the Durfee Foundation, at Los Angeles’s Dangerous Curve art space. After that, a stained-glass Gummi window and a white Life Savers sculpture.

"I will continue to work on some food material because I’m a big advocate of natural organic food," she insists. "[And] I love to work with artificial foods that never rot."

Stay hungry, Yaya.

For more information on Gummi Bear art, check out http://www.yayachou.com/.