Painted Alive

Note: This post contains pictures that some might find offensive and/or may not be safe for work.

I got this email of a tiger picture which I found very interesting. After doing some research, I found that this painting was created by American artist Craig Tracy to raise awareness for Save China's Tigers campaign. The American is a body painter whose works provide amazing eye deceiving displays. When I first saw the tiger picture for example, I thought it was a normal painting on a canvas. But as the process of the painting is revealed, the image of this extraordinary wild animal slowly reveals itself as three women.

Check out this video to see the three models get transformed into a Chinese Tiger.

Another interesting piece I found in Tracy's gallery is called Immaculate. A painting involving a married couple with the theme that "some unions are set in stone." The main display, the married couple, disappear within the background which is also the foreground.



Save China's Tigers Campaign Painting


Painting process



Immaculate

Nationalism

As I returned to Bahrain for a quick holiday, I noticed that there was a re-branding wave across the country which caught up with BTV and Batelco logos, perhaps commemorating the 10 years passed since our King came to the throne.

Amidst all the advertising boards on the highways, I was captivated by Batelco’s add near Seef Mall, which had the above picture; two hands, one red and the other white, coming together forming the flag of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The way in which the hands interlock with each other is very forceful, whenever I try it, I do have to force the knuckles through until there are no gaps. Yet the resulting bind is equally unbreakable. I almost sense that I need more force to take my hands away from each other than bring them together. Is there a political statement behind this gesture? Well Arabs generally like to bring politics in everything, so I might be reading way too far into it if I said so.

Nevertheless, the image is strikingly beautiful, whenever I pass the billboard on the highway it stays in my head throughout the journey. The brightness of the colors and the texture of the human hand’s skin made it a beautiful abstract piece of art. This is the first time that I actually saw the beauty of our national flag.

One Thousand and One Dreams

Note: This post contains nudity and may not be safe for work, if you are easily offended and/or under 18 please avoid looking at the following pictures.


Married couple Moroccan artist Yasmina Alaoui and Chilean photographer Marco Guerra have created this captivating series called "one thousand and one dreams". Inspired by the legendary tales of A Thousand and One Nights, the photographic series combines nude photography with delicate ink drawings, otherwise known in other cultures as henna.

Here the human body form is treated as a medium for complex geometrical and floral decorations. In some artworks these decorations would gradually disappear to the background. In other works, the decorated bodies stand out in contrast with the plain black background, a method which effectively emphasizes the shadows created by the sensual curves of the human body.

From what I read about the series I am not sure if the bodies were actually painted and then photographed or if they were photographed first and then digitally painted. Either way, the end result is mesmerising and can only evoke a strong feeling of admiration.