Human figures blend into iconic New York City scenes, from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Guggenheim Museum, in artist Trina Merry‘s tromp l’eoil urban camouflage works. Each subject is carefully posed against a backdrop and painted in place to virtually disappear.
The work is reminiscent of that of Liu Bolin, the Beijing-based artist known as the ‘Invisible Man,’ who spends hours studying his chosen locations and painting himself and other subjects. It’s also another amazing example of surreal and sometimes mind-bending works of art that use human bodies as canvas.
“My surface is living, breathing human beings making this a highly relevant & immediate medium,” says Merry. “The painting is temporary, like a Tibetan sand painting, beginning to change into another work as soon as I stop painting, changing texture & color.”
“For this reason highly intentional photography has become an important part of documenting my work… likewise, I work with y human canvases on poses, creating new opportunities for line & Form. My work is sometimes experienced live as an installation, for example, at museums, or preserved through photographs as limited edition fine art prints.”
