Three-dimensional human bodies are transformed to look like paintings on a flat surface in this curious collaboration between a makeup artist, a photographer and a retoucher. In his series Art of Face, Alexander Kholkhlov explores the ways in which people can function as canvases, using body paint to obscure their humanity.

For a set entitled ‘2D or Not 2D?’ makeup artist Valeriya Kutsan applies body paint in such a way that it’s sometimes near-impossible to tell that what you’re looking at isn’t just a flat painting. Says Kholkhlov, “”Valeriya used different techniques of face painting so you can see a lot of variations – from sketch and graphic arts to water-colour and oil-paintings. “

Another set, ‘Angry Beards,’ paints imagery from the game Angry Birds onto bearded men.

The power of body paint to completely transform human bodies into everything from exotic animals to crashed cars can be astounding. Some artists use it to make their models virtually disappear. See 31 more works of art on human canvas.