At First I Thought These Were Just Regular Paintings. But Then I Kept Looking And… OMG!

Los Angeles-based artist Alexa Meade has made a name for herself by turing real people into walking, talking works of art. Using acrylic paints, she paints on the skin of human subjects in a way that optically flattens them into two-dimensional paintings.

Her work has been displayed at the Saatchi Gallery in London, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in DC, Postmasters Gallery in New York City, Galerie Ivo Kamm in Switzerland, and Ingo Seufert Gallery for Contemporary Photography in Germany. She’s also been featured on CNN, NPR, and in WIRED, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Guardian.

Scroll down to see some of her mind-blowing creations. And keep in mind that every one of these is an actual live person.