They seem soft and out-of-focus; at first, you may think they’re made of wax. Get closer and you’ll notice a sort of honeycomb pattern in each of these strange relief sculptures, wherein the shapes of human body parts seem to be pushing themselves out of the wall from behind. These sculptures, by Korean artist Sang Sik Hong, are actually made of thousands of plastic drinking straws.

The artist explains that the idea for the imagery in relation to the materials used comes from the juxtaposition of power and weakness, specifically, the power of desire versus the weakness of such an ephemeral material.

“Although everyone desires power, only a few people can have it. Power is the symbol of strength and the object for one’s wish since it accompanies many interests. Power is strong, scarce and heading toward eternity. However, the straw, contrary to the properties of power, is a weak structure, easily available to anyone for it is produced on a large scale and disposable material.”