Hyper-Realistic Acrylic Body Painting

Alexa Meade thinks completely backwards. Most artists use acrylic paints to create portraits of people on canvas. But not Meade - she applies acrylic paints on her subjects and makes them appear to be a part of the painting!

Meade is an installation artist based in the Washington, DC area. Her innovative use of paint on the three dimensional surfaces of found objects, live models, and architectural spaces has been incorporated into a series of installations that create a perceptual shift in how we experience and interpret spatial relationships.

I was lucky enough to catch up with Meade and ask her about her thought process. Here is what she said:

"I paint representational portraits directly on top of the people I am representing. The models are transformed into embodiments of the artist's interpretation of their essence. When captured on film, the living, breathing people underneath the paint disappear, overshadowed by the masks of themselves."

Self Portrait of the Artist

So what's next for Meade? "I am currently experimenting with more video and new media," she says. We can't wait!

Alexa Meade's website

More Incredible, Photorealistic Art:
21 Mind-Blowing Hyperreal Paintings
Photorealistic Pencil Drawings by Paul Lung (12 total)
Amazing Photorealistic Star Wars Art - Christian Waggoner (4 pieces)
On a Rainy Day...Gregory Thielker's Paintings (Not Photos) - 8 Total

Tags: Acrylic, Alexa Meade, Body, Hyper-Realistic, Painting, pics

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Comment by Jenina Marie on November 22, 2010 at 9:06am: I think I'm late to the party, but i just found this & it is absolutely exquisite!! And with all this modern technology I thought the classic disciplines were endangered! Interactive, classic & truly breathtaking! WOW

Comment by Casey Reeder on October 20, 2010 at 1:49am: So, uh is Alexa the red haired woman in the last photo? Is she single?

Comment by Glastogaz on September 3, 2010 at 5:31am: Wow I'm glad I was told about this, I'm very tempted to do a large and simple painting of the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury Festival 2011. And paint a willing model in wellies and not much else. The model can assume different poses and also be plastered in Glasto Mud. Wicked.

Comment by James W. Stanfield on April 8, 2010 at 4:38am: W__O__W__!!!!

Comment by Schmedley Bivens on April 6, 2010 at 5:57pm: Incredibly, wonderfully creative. Such a great way to bring stillness to life

Comment by Eric Parker on March 23, 2010 at 2:25pm: Extremely Cool

Comment by IanJ on March 18, 2010 at 4:02am: Very clever and surreal. It's like the antithesis of photo realism.

Comment by ShoppingCampaign on March 17, 2010 at 6:35am: very great idea.
unbelievable.

Comment by mei chan on March 16, 2010 at 9:51am: more like a brilliant gal!

Comment by Foxman on March 15, 2010 at 7:16pm: I can't believe my eyes. The artist is a brilliant guy. I think it will be more amusing when people mistake the model for a real painted sculpture.