The pepper eyes of the "Mona Tofu" gaze out from beneath flowing noodle hair, and the tomato skin of "Cabbage Monroe" glows in Ju Duoqi's contemporary art exhibition in Beijing.

Many of the world's most famous paintings are on display in Ju's "Vegetable Museum" -- recreated in photographs of pinned-together onions, potatoes and eggplants. "In terms of sculpture, I don't like using fibreglass. It's too difficult, and wood just doesn't look right," said Ju, sitting in front of her "Liberty Leading the Vegetables," a parody of "Liberty Leading the People" by Eugene Delacroix.

Ju, a former website and computer game designer from Sichuan province, has been creating about two vegetable sculptures a month since 2006 to show that art is a part of daily life. The 35-year-old artist boils, dries or pickles vegetables to perfect their appearance before assembling them, adding the fastest-rotting ingredients last. After photographing her work, she turns it into a meal.