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Artist Recreates Famous Paintings From Paper Clips and Other Everyday Objects

Famous Artwork Arrangements by Adam Hillman

“The Scream” by Edvard Munch

Items like paper clips typically clutter junk drawers, but for artist Adam Hillman, these everyday items make perfect materials for creating visually soothing, colorful arrangements. Hillman calls himself an “Object Arranger,” but his work is more than just positioning items neatly. He uses paper clips, coins, toothpicks, edible ingredients, and more to create visually striking flat lay art. And while many of his works are non-representational patterns, Hillman has recently been creating compositions inspired by famous paintings from art history.

From Van Gogh’s Starry Night to Picasso’s Guernica, each iconic artwork is reimagined in Hillman’s playful style. In one work, the innovative artist uses broken bits of cereal to recreate one of Van Gogh’s self-portraits. And in another, colored paper clips are arranged to look like the paint strokes in Edvard Munch’s The Scream. Although each colorful composition is made using found objects, they still celebrate the original artworks’ expressive quality. Each hand-placed object acts as an expressive brushstroke or stippled dot in a pointillism painting.

If you love Hillman’s work, you can purchase prints of his arrangements on Society6, and keep up to date with his latest creations on Instagram.

Artist Adam Hillman uses paper clips, tooth picks, cereal, and more everyday items to create famous works of art.

Famous Artwork Arrangements by Adam Hillman

“Self-Portrait” by Vincent van Gogh

Famous Artwork Arrangements by Adam Hillman

“The Great Wave off Kanagawa” by Hokusai

Famous Artwork Arrangements by Adam Hillman

“American Gothic” by Grant Wood

Famous Artwork Arrangements by Adam Hillman

“The Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh

Famous Artwork Arrangements by Adam Hillman

“The Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo

Famous Artwork Arrangements by Adam Hillman

“The Kiss” by Gustav Klimt

Famous Artwork Arrangements by Adam Hillman

“Guernica” by Pablo Picasso

Famous Artwork Arrangements by Adam Hillman

“The Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh

Adam Hillman: Instagram | Society6

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Adam Hillman.

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Emma Taggart

Emma Taggart is a Contributing Writer at My Modern Met. Originally from Northern Ireland, she is an artist now based in Berlin. After graduating with a BA in Fashion and Textile Design in 2013, Emma decided to combine her love of art with her passion for writing. Emma has contributed to various art and culture publications, with an aim to promote and share the work of inspiring modern creatives. While she writes every day, she’s also devoted to her own creative outlet—Emma hand-draws illustrations and is currently learning 2D animation.
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