Houston, Texas artist Ashley Fernandes needed two weeks, 19 bags of Doritos and a sharp eye for the right chip shapes to bring his latest food-art vision to life.
HOUSTON — What began as a heap of tortilla chips became an unmistakable American icon. After days of sorting through Doritos in search of the perfect triangles, Houston-based artist Ashley Fernandes transformed the snack into a detailed version of the Statue of Liberty.
Fernandes is known for turning ordinary foods, from fruit to Doritos, into eye-catching artwork. This project, however, came with higher stakes. Doritos launched its “Build the Bold” contest ahead of America’s 250th anniversary, inviting participants to recreate famous U.S. landmarks using its chips for a chance to win $250,000.
For Fernandes, the choice was clear: the Statue of Liberty.
“I picked the Statue of Liberty because of the details and challenges she would present,” Fernandes told KHOU 11. “I wanted to build something bold and beautiful and what’s more bold and beautiful than the Statue of Liberty and what she represents.”
While the physical build took about two weeks, Fernandes said the idea had been taking shape in his head for about a month. Then came the Doritos, nineteen bags of them. The hardest part wasn’t simply getting the chips to stay together. Fernandes had to sort through them to find exactly the right shapes for different parts of the statue.
“The most difficult part of creating it was sorting through the chips to find the perfect triangles for the right places and different-shaped chips for different parts of the statue like the fingers,” he said. “It’s like putting Lego pieces together. Everything has to fit just right to look perfect.”
Creating art from unexpected materials isn’t new for Fernandes. He said his artistic streak began as a child growing up in Goa, India. He remembers drawing as a toddler and creating art at school from debris he found along the coast. Around age 10, he picked up a potato and carved it into a flower.
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“So I’ve been creating ever since I knew how to use my hands,” Fernandes said.
For about a decade, he has operated his own fruit carving and art business, Ashfruitking, with support from customers in the Houston area.
“I couldn’t do it without the people in and around Houston,” he said.
Now, he’s waiting to find out how his Doritos creation fares in the contest. Fernandes said winning would mean much more than recognition for his artwork.
“Winning the prize would change my life,” he said. “It would make life and the future for my new family much easier and it would give me more opportunities to create more works of art.”
Regardless of the outcome, Fernandes said he hopes people see something more than tortilla chips when they look at his work.
“Whatever I’m working on I put my whole love, attention, and care into,” he said. “I love taking something simple like chips or fruit and creating something unexpected, colorful, and beautiful. Something that makes people stop and look.”