American glass artist Shayna Leib, like anyone, is deeply attracted to the seductive pull of decadent desserts. Unlike most however, Leib is unable to indulge. 

Her body reacts to several aspects of puffed pastries and chocolate mousses, causing her to have many severe dietary restrictions. It was this void that pulled her towards the desire to work with the unattainable, to recreate the objects she couldn’t eat. 

“This body of work started as a therapeutic exercise in deconstruction and a re-training of the mind to look at dessert as form rather than food,” says Leib in an artist statement about her series Patisserie. “It soon became a technical riddle, and I became a food taxidermist of French pastries.” 

To create the glossy sculptures she combines elements of porcelain and glass, utilizing nearly every technique for both to achieve the hyper realistic quality of each faux dessert. Like a typical French pastry would be rolled, glazed, baked, and trimmed, Leib hot-sculpts, fuses, casts, grinds, throws, and even pipes with a theme-appropriate pastry tube. You can view more of her sweet imitations on her website, Instagram, and Facebook