In conversation over coffee with artist Michelle Wibowo
We’ve teamed up with the England men’s football captain and Bayern Munich striker, Harry Kane, and his charity, the Harry Kane Foundation, to raise money to support mental health initiatives across England. The ‘Harry’s Flat White’ is currently available exclusively in Starbucks stores in England until the 30th April, with 25p from each sale going towards Mental Health Innovations and Bounce Forward charities* (learn more about it here).
To celebrate the partnership and spark conversations about mental health, we commissioned artist Michelle Wibowo to create a showstopping portrait of the England captain…made entirely from expired Starbucks coffee beans. The incredible piece, signed by Harry himself, is set to be sold at auction, with the proceeds going to charity.
Join us as we grab a coffee (a Harry’s Flat White, of course!) and sit down with Michelle to learn more about the magic behind her incredible artwork.
Q: You’re known for working with unconventional materials – cakes, butter, now even coffee beans. What drew you to using food to create your art?
A: It’s been a very long journey! It started all the way back in my childhood, growing up in Indonesia. Back then, when I was a little girl, I loved baking and would experiment a lot in the kitchen. When it came time to decide what I wanted to study at university, I didn’t think I’d be able to turn my love for baking into an actual career. My options were quite limited, so I chose to study architecture because I knew I wanted to do something that would allow me to create.
But I believe, when you have a true passion, you will always find your way back to it. When I moved to the UK in 2000, I earned a degree in Baking Science at the National Baking School in London. I discovered so much about baking – it wasn’t just cake decorating – and combined what I learned with one of my other hobbies: sculpting. I realised that baking materials, like fondant, are actually very similar in consistency and texture to the clay I used for my sculptures. That’s how it started.
Back then, there wasn’t any social media, so I just had to learn as I went along – it was a lot of trial and error. I started off making cakes for special occasions, like birthdays, but as I continued to learn and experiment my projects became more and more ambitious. I found that all my experience in architecture, sculpting and even carpentry was all applicable to my art. For example, when I build a huge sculpture – like the BFG sculpture that I made out of cake– my architectural knowledge comes in very useful for making sure it is structurally sound and won’t collapse.
Q: How did you create the Harry Kane portrait – can you walk us through the creative process?
A: I was given an image of Harry Kane to work from, so my first step was creating a digital sketch to find a design that we were all happy to move forwards with. We used expired Starbucks coffee beans to create the portrait, so I then had to measure out all the beans, dye some of them using food colouring, and stick them down to the canvas using a clear varnish. I spent quite some time arranging the coffee beans before sticking them down. I couldn’t just pour them out in a random pattern because I wanted to make sure they captured the finer details of Harry’s face.
Q: Was this your first time working with coffee beans – was it difficult?
A: It was very difficult! There was a lot of trial and error involved. I had worked with jellybeans in the past so initially I thought using coffee beans might be quite similar. But of course, jellybeans come in a variety of colours, which meant I could use different colours to show shadows and highlights. But coffee beans are all one colour! While there is some variation in the shade, this wasn’t enough to be able to depict intricate details – which was particularly challenging considering I was trying to create a portrait of a person. In portraiture, even the smallest changes to a person’s features can completely change their appearance, so those little details really matter.
In the end, I decided to dye some of the beans using food colouring. This process involved a lot of mathematics. I had to measure areas of the portrait and calculate how many coffee beans I would need to dye in order to fill the area.
Q: What is the lasting impact you hope pieces like the Harry Kane portrait will have?
A: When considering the lasting impact of pieces like the Harry Kane portrait, I sincerely hope it encourages others to explore creativity, particularly by experimenting with unconventional materials.
I’m keen to highlight the potential of upcycling and repurposing, especially when it comes to artistic expression. For this particular project, expired coffee beans, which might otherwise have been discarded or composted, were transformed into a medium for painting. Ultimately, I hope that the portrait leaves a lasting impression, inspiring viewers to see the artistic possibilities in everyday items, and to perhaps consider more sustainable approaches to their own creation.
Q: As an artist, do you think visual storytelling like this can help spark conversations about difficult topics, like mental health?
A: Definitely. Working on this project has made me think a lot more deeply about mental health and how many people may be struggling in silence without anyone even realising it. I hope the artwork will do the same for others, sparking conversations and raising awareness. .
Q: Finally, a fun question – what’s your usual coffee order?
A: I’m a Starbucks lover – I get my coffee from there regularly! My favourite is a white mocha with oat milk.
If you’re in England, pop into your local Starbucks today and order Harry’s Flat White – every cup helps support the vital work of mental health charities Bounce Forward and Mental Health Innovations.
To learn more about Michelle Wibowo’s artwork, visit: michellesugarart.com/
* *Harry’s Flat White is available between 13 March and 30 April 2025 only. Subject to availability. Starbucks will donate 25p to The Harry Kane Foundation, which is a restricted fund under the auspices of Prism the Gift Fund (Registered charity no: 1099682), for each Harry’s Flat White sold between 13/3/25 and 30/4/25
