Obama in multigrain

Paeroa-born artist Maurice Bennett, famous throughout New Zealand for portraits made from toast, has recently unveiled his latest piece. Bennett’s Barack Obama portrait required over 12 pieces of toast, including white, whole wheat, and pumpernickel, the mixed toast reflecting Obama’s mixed race. Wellington-based Bennett has created a number of works with toast including portraits of the Mona Lisa, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, Elvis Presley and rugby great Jonah Lomu. Bennett describes his latest endeavours as “better relat[ing] to New Zealand and the Pacific-rim artistic styles … with exhibitions inspired by tapa cloth, Maori carvings, and Pacific patterns.” His art has featured on Ripley’s Believe It or Not and the Japanese show Amazing Stories.