While I had seen a few of these stunning images under the category of photography (by Tim Engle), the true artist here is body painter Michael Rosner.
Having begun his craft with an airbrush, Michael eventually perfected a technique using found objects as a masking element to impose architectural and geometric shapes upon the organic contours of the human body.
Painted upon live models, each can take between 16 and 20 hours of laborious handiwork. No computer enhancement is used and all props such as skulls, leaves, horns, masks and headpieces are real.
The result is a combination of humanity and machinery - a steampunk like underworld of mythological gods and goddesses, of devils and robots.
above photo by Allan Barnes Photography
"Transforming an organic object using paint fills me with a sense of accomplishment and integrity and is the creative vehicle that carries me toward the translation of my inner vision to a reality that can be shared." -- Michael Rosner of Eye Level Studios.
About Body painter Michael Rosner:
above: Artist Michael Rosner at work
Michael Rosner is an American artist born in Chicago, Illinois. After attending Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia in 1996 he relocated to Sacramento, California and worked as a painter, sculptor and carpenter before beginning the series of body paintings in 2006.
Eye Level Studio, founded by Rosner in 2001, is what he calls a 'collective of talented artists' which has grown to include an elite group of the industries top professional photographers, stylists, make up artists and models who have become the creative force that has helped to realize Rosner's unique vision of body painting. In addition to live models, Rosner is known for painting on 'unconventional' surfaces including elaborate paintings on real leaves with hand selected species collected each fall throughout California.
Real People. Real Paint. Unreal Art. Available for paid shoots and live painting shows all over the world. Model Submission and Booking info email: Info@eyelevelstudio.com
Prints of some of the photographs shown in this post are available in his online store here.
photos in this post by David Geuringer, Allan Barnes and Tim Engle and courtesy of Eye Level Studios.