The projects you’ll see below are stunning examples of symbiosis between painting, environment, and photography. Each element is working in conjunction with each other to complete an image.
The artists position the models in a specific place. Then, they blend them into the backdrop with painstaking attention to the lighting and the textures of the surroundings. Some of them have assistants who paint the bodies of the artists to make them merge as seamlessly as possible with what is behind. The words just can’t describe the way they dissolve in the environment. Some of you might need glasses to fully enjoy this mind-blowing spectacle!
Orly Faya
Australia-born Orly Faya travels to remote areas of the planet and merges people into their surroundings to represent our frail relationship with nature. The artist paints people into the Earth camouflaging their bodies with delicate brushstrokes. She can boast of an impressive collection of extraordinary work blending her models into foliage, seascapes, mountains, forests, plateaus, and waterfalls. Faya sees her art as a commentary on sustainability and overconsumption. She admits that it takes people a lot of willpower, focus, commitment and determination to become human canvases and help the artist attract attention towards the idea that all of us are just pieces of earth.
Johannes Stötter
Johannes Stötter is a recognized body painter and folk musician from South Tyrol, Italy. Inspired by nature’s forms, he transfroms human models into wild animals, fruits, plants, flowers. The artist also blends people with the surroundings. It takes him to up to five months of planning and up to eight hours of work to create his amazingly intricate artworks.
Liu Bolin
Known as The Invisible Man, Liu Bolin blends with the background to make a powerful statement about his place in society. He sees himself as living metaphor of an outsider whose art is not valued, especially in his native country of China. The artist’s inspiration behind his project was a feeling of not fitting into the modern society. It is also a silent protest against the persecution of fellow Chinese artists.
Jörg Duesterwald
Jörg has lready been producing body art projects for 20 years. He uses amazing body-painting skills in a number of creative series. The artsist paints his models with such precision that it takes quite a few moments to realize where they are hidden in the landscape. In his most recent project, called ‘Door Art,’ Jörg explores how a model interact with doors and gates. Can you see her?
