What’s the sauce? Young Cebuana makes soy sauce art in the pandemic
Soy sauce. The ever versatile staple condiment can be an ingredient, a marinade, a colorant, and a flavoring that one can add directly to dishes. We love the fermented soya beans in and on our food. But that’s as far as soy sauce goes—an additive to our meals. That is until this 19-year-old Pinay student put the spotlight on the umami-filled black sauce.
The quarantine has kept us treading lightly, cooped up in our homes to prevent any more casualties. In isolation, most of us chose to spend our time honing our skills and creativity, and finding ways to express ourselves.
Thea Sophia Disabelle of Bantayan Island, Cebu, created a non-traditional art through a medium no one really thought of using—soy sauce.
“It all started when I poured a little amount of soy sauce into a saucer, since I needed it for my fried fish,” Thea explains. “After that, I paused for three seconds while staring at it. Something beautiful was formed. After I had my breakfast that day, I asked myself, ‘Why not make art using soy sauce?’” The 19-year-old student from the University of Visayas made her first soy sauce artwork back in March.
It took Thea a few more months before trying to make another soy sauce artwork. But, upon posting her new set of creations online, people noticed, commending her.
Like any normal artist, Thea also uses traditional mediums like paint, pastels, and pencils. She does, however, recommend soy sauce as material for artists to try considering that one can easily buy it in contrast to actual art supplies.
The communication student detailed how the high-quality soybeans provide a unique texture to work with, distinguishing it from the usual materials. “The texture looks so cool after a while,” she says. “Artists just need soy sauce, a large plate, and imagination. It's tricky to do this kind of artwork because one wrong move, you'll have to start all over again. It might be an ephemeral artwork but it's worth the effort,” she says.
As some artists find new ways to make breathtaking art in quarantine using everyday items, Thea believes that there’s really no limit to what anyone can create as long as they keep trying. She wants to pursue a fine arts course and eventually turn her hobby into her life’s work.
She also does coffee art.
“I encourage everyone to be creative and make use of their time through art,” she says. “You don't need expensive art materials—you just have to go to your kitchen, get some stuff, and make it your masterpiece. It's just a matter of creativity, dedication and willingness to learn something new. You just have to be creative in making nothing into something. That's how art works.”
NutriAsia, the company responsible for Silver Swan soy sauce, which is the preferred brand of Thea—as seen in her photos—learned of her artworks. In recognition of her astounding creativity and resourcefulness, the food producer sent Thea’s family boxes of products to use for cooking or for more of the soy sauce art.
Photos from Thea Sophia Disabelle's Facebook account.