DA NANG – Under skillful hands, Nguyen Anh Vu has created a mask of demons and witches from pumpkins for Halloween.
On Halloween day, Mr. Nguyen Anh Vu, 29 years old, residing in Son Tra District, Da Nang city was still busy sculpting masks of witches, jokers, Indians, etc. with pumpkins to deliver to customers in time.
Anh Vu is a chef, has been charmed with the art of fruit and vegetable sculpture since 2015, with the desire to present more beautiful dishes. Since then, he started tinkering, learning how to make shapes on pumpkins.
According to him, sculpting pumpkins, themed vegetables on Halloween in the West has been done for a long time, but in Vietnam, it is very rare. From his own experience, the male chef sought to create a creepy mask to display at hotels, restaurants, resorts, and cafes serving tourists.
To create a mask, you must choose the right pumpkin for each shape. Contouring, trimming parts and re-smoothing the product.
In the art of pruning sculpture, it is often divided into many types such as trimming flowers, animals, or people. “But the hardest part is trimming the human character when you have to breathe life into each work,” Vu said, adding that each mask made from pumpkin takes one to four hours, or more depending on the difficulty such as feathers and hair. or shapes that require splicing of additional materials.
Before the epidemic, Mr. Vu mainly received sculpture applications from hotels, restaurants, and resorts in Da Nang for display. But this year due to the epidemic, most hotels have not yet operated, orders are less than every year.
The price of a complete pumpkin mask costs from 300,000 VND to 1 million VND, used for about a week to 10 days. When there are many orders, the male chef can sculpt 4-5 masks per day.
Over the past six years, Vu has made more than 100 samples of Halloween masks and hundreds of other models of animals and plants.
In early October this year, drawing on many years of professional experience, Mr. Vu released a picture book on the art of fruit and vegetable sculpture with four chapters: fish, birds, four-legged animals, and human characters with more than 50 models, directions, and directions. Detailed instructions on the method of sculpting on fruits and vegetables.
“I hope to be able to convey good, creative ways of learning to people with similar interests instead of having to tinker with foreign materials by myself,” he said.
For many years in the profession, Mr. Vu has never had any intention of giving up or thinking that he has lost interest. He hopes that young people who love fruit and vegetable sculpture will always have enthusiasm and efforts to create many unique products.
Mr. Vu’s 2018 work of witch mask, pumpkin-shaped devil, is decorated in the restaurant. Follow vnexpress