In this day and age, finding new ways to recycle old objects is a daily requirement. Artist Scott Gundersen decided to combine this common challenge with his artwork and has defined a unique, new use for discarded wine corks. The Michigan-based artist collects all kinds of wine-tinted bottle stoppers and organizes them by tones and colors.
To create these incredibly detailed portraits, Gundersen first sketches out a drawing based on a photograph he takes of his subject. He then spends hours upon hours pinning the materials to the canvas and transforming his already stunning drawings into these magnificent cork portraits.
In some of his pieces, Gundersen has been known to use 9,000 natural corks over the course of 200 hours to create a massive final product. In a recent piece, Trisha, you can watch a time-lapse video below of Gundersen filling in the shadows and highlights of his drawing with 3,621 used and recycled wine corks. It's hard not to wonder how many of the corks were from bottles that he actual popped open and enjoyed himself!
