Someone Made the Salt Bae Meme Into a Portrait Using Real Salt

The first meme of 2017 came to us courtesy of a mesmerizing video of Turkish chef Nurset Gokce that showcased his flair for sprinkling salt on slices of steak and which earned him the enviable title of #saltbae.

Salt Bae’s influence, however, has inspired more than just memes — he’s now the subject of a commemorative portrait by artist Allan Pachino Wallace, who painstakingly recreated Gokce’s now-iconic culinary skills using real salt.

Wallace shared the hyper-realistic sprinkled salt art piece on Instagram, where it’s garnered nearly 27,000 likes and more than 1,708 comments in the four days since he posted it last Wednesday. Wallace also shared a photo of him cleaning up the portrait on Sunday by sweeping up the artfully arranged salt. You can watch both below.