Artist Transforms Herself Into Mind-Bending Optical Illusions Without Any Photoshop

Body Art by Dain Yoon

“The Inferno of Earthly Delights”

Like many artists, Dain Yoon enjoys working with paint. But it’s not a canvas that she puts pigment to—it's her own body. Using an extensive palette of paints and brushes, she applies the pigment to her skin and transforms herself into amazing optical illusions. Her creations go beyond fooling the eye, and they're convincing enough to make you believe that she is now what she has painted. And most impressively of all, she does this all without the use of Photoshop or other photo manipulation programs.

Much of Yoon's early work focused just on her face, but she has grown her portfolio to include complex illusions that incorporate her entire body. In one creation, she turned herself into her laptop; Yoon painted part of her face to look like the keyboard and even colored her hair to match up with the real screen. But not to be tied to one type of image, one of Yoon's latest body paintings was inspired by a trip to The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. There, she saw the work of Hieronymus Bosch and decided to create a painting in his style on her skin.

Yoon calls her Bosch-inpsired work The Inferno of Earthly Delights. The body art features an idyllic scene that covers most of her face but reaches a fiery pit at her chin and onto her chest. Ultimately, the meaning behind the piece seems open to interpretation. “A lot of times, I feel it’s more difficult to express myself in words,” Yoon tells My Modern Met, “than it is through painting…”

Scroll down to see some of Yoon’s latest pieces.

Artist Dain Yoon creates amazing optical illusion art on her body.

Optical Illusion Body Art by Dain Yoon

Body Art by Dain Yoon

Sometimes, she's an object…

Body Art by Dain Yoon

Optical Illusion Body Art by Dain Yoon

Optical Illusion Body Art by Dain Yoon

Illusion Art by Dain Yoon

… and other times, she's a mind-bending pattern.

Body Art by Dain Yoon

Optical Illusion Body Art by Dain Yoon

Illusion Art by Dain Yoon

Optical Illusion Body Art by Dain Yoon

Illusion Art by Dain Yoon

Illusion Art by Dain Yoon

Optical Illusion Body Art by Dain Yoon

Optical Illusion Body Art by Dain Yoon

Illusion Art by Dain Yoon

Dain Yoon: Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Dain Yoon.

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Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled "Embroidered Life" that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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