Balls of aluminum foil transform into Darth Vader and irregular chunks of chocolate cookies covered in rainbow sprinkles become the Star Wars logo when a single light source is shined upon them in just the right way. Artist ‘Red’ Hong Yi of Malaysia created an entire series of Star Wars shadow art with a range of materials, from feathers to discarded computer guts.
The artist turns on a lamp and begins attaching her bits of materials to pieces of wire embedded in a base, watching the shadows on a plain white wall until her seemingly random compositions start to make visual sense. Some of the portrait are more complex than others; a Stormtrooper made of cotton is simple and graphic while a Yoda silhouette crafted of nothing more than a handful of leaves and weeds seems as if it could spring to life.
“It started with a spark of curiosity and then a lot of tweaks and experiments,” says the artist on her Instagram. “As an artist/designer, I’ve learned to not be afraid of experimenting and failing; you’ll get better at what you do with each step you take. Our responsibility as creators is to sit down and create again and again. May the force be with you!”
Get inspired with 24 more amazing works of shadow art, and follow Red Hong Yi on Instagram for more creations made from unexpected materials, like tea bag portraits and intricate arrangements of edible items.