These chaotic and random collections of objects placed on pedestals don’t seem gallery-worthy on first glance, but shine a light upon them in just the right way, and something magical occurs. These bits of broken glass, disassembled furniture and household objects created by Diet Wiegman transform into Michelangelo’s David, the Venus de Milo, hovering chairs or Michael Jackson.

While Wiegman is not the only artist producing light and shadow art of this kind, he seems to have been the first; most of these works were created in the 1980s. In addition to these light and shadow sculptures, Wiegman is known for ceramics that mimic broken and rusted junkyard finds, from crumpled tin cans to pieces of old gears.

Wiegman has a gift for seeing beauty in the most unexpected places, whether in these surprising sculptures or in his still-life photography of his own art juxtaposed with trash and a cast of a human head. See his entire portfolio at his Tumblr.