Smoothie bowls are visually appealing even at their most simple – fresh fruits and vibrant colours all work in harmony to create a feast for the senses (and our Instagram feeds). But every now and then a true visionary comes along – someone primed to take the art of a good breakfast bowl to the next level.
Enter , a New Zealand-based superfood connoisseur who’s mastering Instagram with her artworks, one smoothie bowl creation at a time. Born and raised in Malaysia, Zakariya travelled to New Zealand ten years ago for university and never left. Her delicate renderings of animals, movie characters and famous artworks are made with 100 per cent natural ingredients, and wouldn’t be out of place hanging on the walls of gallery somewhere. For this artist, breakfast is certainly the most important meal of the day.
According to Zakariya, it was a case of a happy accident turned creative outlet, a hobby developed alongside a largely analytical career in science and business. Smoothie bowl art helped her engage with the world around her – vastly different from the one in which she grew up. “I was initially trying to garnish a bowl of soup with swirls of coconut cream,” she tells SBS. “It didn’t quite turn out how I planned it, but then I saw the opportunity to turn the swirls and pesto into a tree instead.”
Since accidentally creating a tree out of a bowl of soup, Zakariya has gone on to amass thousands of Instagram followers (more than 25K, and counting), who all adore her brilliantly coloured, almost dream-like smoothie art. Scroll through her feed and you may catch your favourite animals, evidence of her love of film and television, a stunning unicorn that you won’t believe isn’t sketched, and even a glimpse of her beloved pet cat, Sparta (who also has her own ). It’s hard to believe they all started out as coconut cream, mesquite powder, activated coconut charcoal, butterfly pea flower, spirulina and other nutrient-dense ingredients.
Asking Zakariya to pick a favourite work is not dissimilar to forcing a parent to choose a favourite child. “Each one of them has a story and meaning behind it for me personally,” she says. “If I had to choose, my favourites would be the Deer, the Wolf, the Penguin and the apple pie smoothie inspired by René Magritte’s man with bowler hat work. I feel that these smoothie bowls translate all theses elements of inspiration most successfully.”
From her bowls, Zakariya hopes to discover new challenges and new mediums – she’s currently flexing her creative muscles with actual smoothies, but who knows where her talent may take her? “I’m looking forward to experimenting further using food as a medium for art, and potentially incorporating more traditional materials too. I look forward to continuing to create, pursing more collaborations, and I would love to create a book one day."
“With everything going on in the world today, I feel that it’s important to spread love and kindness even through art. Through this project, I've learnt a lot about balance and letting go. It also reminds me that life is temporary and that every moment and every beauty should be savoured.”
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