Unconventional Portraits by Red

Hong Yi is one of my favorite artists to have discovered this year. The talented Malaysian hottie, who often goes by the nickname Red, likes to paint... but not with a paintbrush. Instead, she uses everyday objects like socks, sunflower seeds, melted candles, coffee cups, and chopsticks to create stunning pictures.

Who wouldn't be amazed by the portrait of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg that Red created out of 36 books by carefully slicing off the sides of the pages, or the rather unusual image of famed Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou made of 750 pair of socks?

Red could do almost anything with her hands but the most remarkable work she did was with food. Among her most impressive pieces was a coffee cup stain portrait of Italian singer Lucio Dalla. "Patience has developed overtime," she said. "I studied architecture for six years, and it trained me to work very hard until late at night. There was a certain discipline in my life during my university years. If I didn't go through that, I think I wouldn't be as patient as I am now."

Follow Red on Instagram and see more of her work here.

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Weirdly Charming

If you’re a fan of art that makes you do a double-take, you need to check out Richard Brener . Based in the UK, Richard is an internationally collected artist who works primarily with ink, fineliners, and gouache. When you first see his pieces, they actually look pretty playful. Then you realize the entire canvas is packed with thousands of tiny, ghost-like shapes he calls "champs." They’re all squeezed together like commuters on a rush-hour train, and the level of detail is honestly mind-blowing. Richard spends hundreds of hours drawing these little guys over and over. It’s obsessive, very intentional, and a little bit wild. The cool part is that the longer you stare, the more the vibe shifts. Check out more photos below:

Teasin' Squeezin' Pleasin'

This is from the 1995 CMA Awards. I'm not a huge fan of country music and I wasn't a huge fan of that show…but I couldn't resist Shania Twain singing Any Man of Mine.

Surrealist sculptures by Magnus Sebastian merge human form and machine

Combining mannequins and discarded pieces of technology into stunningly intricate sculptures, Magnus Sebastian has created an array of surreal artworks. The Florida-based artist makes what he calls "post industrial trans-human sculptures. Look at one of his pieces from one angle and you'll see a human form. Look at it from a reverse angle and you see an effigy filled with old machine parts and electronic components. Sebastian's artist statement explains, "I want those who inspect my work to see the beauty of form and be intrigued by the mechanical foundations. I want the viewer to be drawn to the illusory patinas and mechanisms – to walk the line between dream and reality and experience the loss of humanity that technology has wrought." Sebastian offers more personal insight behind his art at his website .

finding cain

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