Many women might appreciate the sight of All Black Richie McCaw, but British food artist Prudence Staite did not even know who he was when she was asked to sculpt an image of him in chocolate.
It was not until a chance meeting over a toaster at a New Zealand motel, that she got to see her subject in person.
"It was bizarre. It's the first time I've met someone I'm making a sculpture of."
For the past 10 years she has been combining her fine arts degree with her love of food and has travelled all over the world creating food works of art.
"I want to make art and food really special and fun. It should not be about just ripping open a packet and consuming it."
Life-sized replicas of people were her most unusual requests but making furniture out of chocolate was quite usual for the 32-year-old who freely admits to being obsessed with chocolate.
"I eat it every day. I experiment with different types but had never heard of Jaffas until I got here."
Victorian architecture and furniture all looked like iced cakes or chocolate to her, so she set about making them.
"It sounds really weird... but if I make it, you can eat it."
She had sculpted full-sized chocolate rooms, life-sized heads of celebrities and a life-sized sofa complete with cushions out of 250kg of chocolate.
"You could sit on it and while you're relaxing eat the cushions," she told her audience at the Meridian Mall on Saturday.
Miss Staite had been brought to Dunedin for the Cadbury Chocolate Carnival and also sculpted the contents of the chocolate house, including a teapot, chess set and pictures, that is on display in the Golden Centre this week.
Prudence's chocolate sculpting tips:
• Never let it get too hot.
• Best way to melt it is in a microwave.
• Best tool is a grout spreader.
• Use it like clay, play with it.
• If it goes wrong, eat it or melt it and try again.
• Use melted chocolate like edible glue or paint with it.
