When artist Tanya Schultz travels, she's sure to collect lots of colorful tokens. They can be candy, plastic flowers, small toys, and just about anything you can think of. That might sound pretty ordinary, but what she does with those trinkets is anything but.
Operating under the name Pip & Pop, Schultz combines her treasures with mountains of colored sugar and glitter to create neon-colored alien worlds populated by all kinds of fantastic creatures.
And they're not paintings or sculptures, either. Instead, she spreads her worlds out on the floors of galleries around the world — much the same way you might have as a kid creating an imaginary world for your toys.
Schultz's creations look good enough to eat, and while some of their components are edible, some are definitely not! But they will totally make you crave something sweet and unusual, like these completely edible rock candy geodes.
The installations are also very delicate, with carefully arranged designs made of colored sand and precariously balanced figurines. Luckily, you can't knock anything over through a photo!
[H/T: My Modern Met]
Looking at one of Tanya Schultz's installations feels a bit like walking into a feverish version of Candyland.
Schultz, who creates art under the name Pip & Pop, creates these by arranging sand, glitter, sugar, toys, candy, and other trinkets on the floors of galleries, meticulously building a landscape.
They're full of bright color and hidden treasures, and they look like the lands of a child's imagination come to life.
And while the landscapes are miniature, they can reach fairly large sizes as they sprawl across floors. But everything you see here is carefully placed by hand.
Zoom out a bit, and it begins looking like a strange, alien continent.
But even with all the care Schultz puts into her work, they don't last, except in photographs. When the show is over, these installations are dismantled and the sand and glitter all swept up.
But that doesn't stop her from taking the time to carefully create each stripe, polka dot and mound. Not only is the size of this installation impressive, but check out all of her supplies!
The end results, as temporary as they may be, are truly gorgeous, though.
Schultz says she's inspired by ideas of paradise, utopia, and wish fulfillment as found in legends and fairy tales. So a colorful world made of candy seems only appropriate!
This looks like a map of an entire candy world! And that's exactly what Schultz is going for. Of her work, she says she wants people to "sense its sweetness even if they don't know it's actually sugar… you can almost taste it."
And maybe almost is actually better. For all its promised sweetness, there's not much substance. Sugar is a lot of empty calories, and these installations aren't designed to last.
"It… holds this empty promise," Schultz says. "[It] is so appealing and sweet but completely devoid of nutrition or lasting satisfaction."
So if you were getting hungry, you're better off just taking in these photos! There's always something to explore.
One of her latest projects is installed inside a greenhouse, and has some shiny metallic items for extra sparkle.
It even lights up at night!
Looking in on this bright bubble of a world must be a real experience!
And imagine coming across it in the dark!
Some of Shultz's installations are simpler, but still have the bright, sugary colors.
This one is simply made of colorful craft paper.
But wherever you look, there's a tiny scene unfolding.
