Photo-realistic Hand-carved Paper Portraits by Yoo Hyun

Up close, there seems to be nothing remarkable about Korean artist Yoo Hyun’s paper carvings.

After all, they look like geometric lines with random, uneven edges.

But looking at them from afar, Yoo Hyun’s paper craft takes a whole new form.

Armed with a X-acto knife and tweezers, Yoo Hyun intricately carves Korean paper to create portraits of personalities from decades ago.

Actresses like Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn, and artists and musicians such as Pablo Picasso and John Lennon are given life by the interplay of the positive and negative spaces created by Yoo Hyun’s paper.

The negative space provides Yoo Hyun an opportunity to create a backdrop. His favorite is a splatter of gray paint that creates a dynamic effect on his already creative work.

Check out the rest of his works below:

Visit Yoo Hyun’s Instagram account at @yoo.hyun. You can also check out the details of his artworks at @yoohyun_artist and his Facebook page.

Who would you like to get a paper portrait? Comment below!