michael massaias' melting ice pops look like abstract surrealist art

michael massaias’ melting ice pops look like abstract surrealist art
all images © michael massaia

nothing screams summer like ice cream. it is childhood memories — often ones spent isolated from others — that trigger michael massaia‘s ‘transmogrify’ series, a still life portfolio of long exposure images of melting ice cream pops. popular cartoon characters like sponge bob, batman and bugs bunny are some of the most ubiquitous figures for a cold sweet treat, with beady eyes made of hard candy and colorful hues delineating their form. rarely do we see them as a liquified, distorted mass, as the american photographer has documented in this series. swirling tones disfigure each cartoon face and lolly shape into surreal and whimsical forms, with the wooden pop stick as a constant element popping up in each picture.

the series is presented alongside additional portfolios revolving around the theme at gallery 270 in englewood, new jersey from now until may 2, 2015.

‘neapolitan sandwich’

‘sponge bob’

‘sonic the hedgehog’

‘batman’

‘spiderman’

‘bugs bunny’

grid from the ‘transmogrify’ series