Blooming fantastic: Artist creates amazing body painted artworks

Artist Emma Hack, best known for her ‘Wallpaper’ series, painstakingly paints her models into captivating backdrops.

Based in Adelaide, Australia, the 43-year-old’s latest project, ‘Bloom’, is comprised of three images combining the female form with designs of flowers, birds and butterflies.

Emma said: “I would like them viewers to feel the beauty in the work and that it has a strong feminine energy. 

"Most of my work also has an environmental message of being ‘at one’ with your environment."

And the artist is firmly committed to her time-consuming body blend technique - with each work taking up to a day to complete. 

She said: "My body painted ‘blends’ take anything from eight to 15 hours of painting.

"The models stand in position, the camera is set up and then I paint to match them with the backgrounds.”

And the artist says she draws a lot of inspiration from her travels around the globe.

"I get my inspiration mostly from traveling throughout different cultures, I am very interested in Asian motifs and art and therefore my work has a strong connection and feel to these cultures,” she added.

"I am also inspired by the natural world and the animals and birds that inhabit it."

A collaboration with Grammy award winner Gotye resulted in the award-winning music video for ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’, which has been viewed by over 700 million people worldwide, raising Emma’s profile in the US, UK and Europe.

But despite this success, she says her models largely remain close friends. 

“I have been working with my main muse, Bec, for 15 years now, it’s great to work with women that have grown with my art as I have,” she said.