It’s been over a decade since Youmeng Liu discovered embroidery for the first time, and she had no idea how far she’d come once she picked up punch needle and thread. She’s now using her skills to stitch together some of the most realistic food embroideries that you’ll ever come across.
Liu fell in love with embroidery during a visit to Dali, China about ten years ago. During this trip, she came across the locals who were doing punch needle embroidery, and she was immediately drawn to them. After learning the technique developed by the Bai minority, she put her own twist on it, adding her unique style and complexity to the traditional method.
Her art took a new turn in 2020 when she decided to create a collection of embroidery hoops inspired by food. She’s on a mission to produce 301 embroidered artworks of common food items, giving each one a very realistic look through a combination of 3D punch needle embroidery, hand embroidery, and scissors sculpting.
“Youmeng wants to create artwork that people can look at every day and find a relationship with food. Every food has their own character which she wants to convey the emotions onto her artwork… Youmeng wants to transfer all these feelings to her audiences,” she explains on her official website.
