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Stunningly Realistic Portraits Created with Thousands of Tiny Holes

Norwegian artist Anne-Karin Furunes crafts images that fool the eye. At first glance, her monochromatic portraits look like photographs, but are definitely not. They're actually painted canvases that are punctuated by thousands of tiny, hand-punched holes. Light plays an important role in her pieces, and the entire work can change its appearance based on the surrounding luminance.

The perforation creates moody images that have an air of mystery about them, and they give the feeling that they could exist in both the past and present times. On one hand, the darkened edges and diffused faces gives the portraits an aged look; subjects seem to resemble young women from the Victorian era. The style and placement of the holes, however, has a more contemporary feel of the digital pixelation that we often see. Furunes has used this duality to form intriguing works that are simply stunning to view.

The artist has been developing this special perforation technique since the early 1990's when she was studying at the Art Academy of Trondheim. Watch the video below to get an idea of just how large these incredible works really are and learn more about her process.


Anne-Karin Furunes on Barry Friedman, Ltd. website
via [The Jealous Curator]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met and Manager of My Modern Met Store. She is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art where she earned her BFA in Illustration and MFA in Illustration Practice. Sara is also an embroidery illustrator and writer living in Seattle, Washington. She runs Bear&Bean, a studio where she stitches pet portraits and other beloved creatures. She chronicles the creativity of others through her website Brown Paper Bag and newsletter, Orts. Her latest book is Threads of Treasure: How to Make, Mend, and Find Meaning Through Thread, published in 2014. Sara’s work has been recognized in Be Creative With Workbox, Embroidery Magazine, American Illustration, on Iron and Wine’s album Beast Epic, among others. When she’s not stitching or writing, Sara enjoys planning things that bring together the craft community. She is the co-founder of Camp Craftaway, a day camp for crafty adults with hands-on workshops in the Seattle area.
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