Canadian artist Cecelia Webber created this image of an owl out of naked people’s bodies.
Credit: Solent News & Photo Agency
This amazing picture of a flying owl was created with a truly human touch: It’s made of people.
Canadian artist Cecelia Webber, 28, takes hundreds of photographs of nude models and spends up to a year masterfully editing them together on her computer to create extraordinary collages.
“Each image takes many stages to create,” she tells Metro World News. “I start by researching photos of the creature I try to create and then sketch poses I want to photograph in a notebook.”
Her devotion to the human body as an art medium began in 2008 when she took a photo of herself. “I took a picture of my back in a curved position and noticed its shape looked like a flower petal. That moment opened up a gateway into a new wonderful art.” Now, Webber uses shots of nude bodies as parts in her animal and plant “paintings.”
Birds and insects are Webber’s preferred subjects, as the animals’ distinct body parts are easier to imitate using her technique. “It’s more difficult to realistically duplicate the fur of an animal,” Webber says. “There is something more poetic about a bird shape, for instance. Its feathers are conducive to movement.”
Behind Webber’s poetic art lies a more sober message for her audience. “I would like to create an endangered species next. Reproducing this animal with real human shapes would help rekindle our connection with nature,” the artist says. “I don’t airbrush or manipulate the image of my nude models, so I am also celebrating the beauty of the body’s natural form.”
By the numbers
One model was used in this picture on an owl in flight – the artist herself. “I spent about a year trying to perfect that pose of me falling forward,” Webber explains. “Then it took about three months for me to complete the rest of the image.” Asked if she considers this work to be a self-portrait, the artist answers: “I don’t see myself per se in my works. To be frank, I would be really intimidated if I did!”
