WorkArt & Culture

Artist hand-cuts paper to create hyperrealistic portraits of famous icons

Korean artist Yoo Hyun has quite a simple tool kit to create her stunning hyperrealistic portraits of famous icons.

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Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of the artist

Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of the artist

Taking sheets of clean white paper, she uses an X-Acto knife and tweezers to hand-cut the material and deliver a range of stunning portraits of everyone from Audrey Hepburn and Michael Jackson to Frida Kahlo and Picasso – all on a painted black background, to allow the strips of paper to really pop. Up close, her artworks look abstract; step further and further away and the icon reveals itself in all its hand-cut glory.

As you can imagine, this practice requires skill, patience and dedication – along with a very steady hand – to be able to perfectly capture each character. If you want to discover more of her work, you can follow her on Instagram or like her on Facebook.

Hand holding X-Acto knife over a partially hand-cut paper portrait with fine parallel line pattern on a green cutting mat
Hand-cut paper portrait by Yoo Hyun showing a face created from intricate parallel lines in white paper, displayed on a green grid background with craft knife and tweezers beside it
Hand-cut paper portrait by Yoo Hyun showing a face rendered in fine parallel lines that create an optical illusion, surrounded by an explosive radiating pattern on black background
Hand holding a fine pen working on a hand-cut paper portrait with parallel line patterns, surrounded by scissors, markers and sketched guidelines on white paper
Artist Yoo Hyun holds a hand-cut paper portrait featuring a face rendered in delicate parallel lines and chevron patterns in black and white
Artist's hand holding a scalpel while hand-cutting fine parallel lines into white paper to create a hyperrealistic portrait, with tools and eraser nearby
Person in red shirt holding a hand-cut paper portrait composed of red and white diagonal line patterns forming an abstract geometric design
Hand-cut paper portrait by Yoo Hyun featuring parallel lines creating a chevron pattern that forms a face when viewed from a distance, surrounded by splattered black paint on white background
Person holding a hand-cut paper portrait featuring a chevron pattern that reveals a face when viewed from a distance, created by artist Yoo Hyun
Hand-cut paper artwork with white chevron pattern in centre framed by radiating black and white splatter effect, creating an abstract optical illusion by Yoo Hyun
Hand-cut paper portrait by Yoo Hyun showing parallel lines creating a monochromatic image of a famous icon against a black painted background
Hand-cut paper portrait by Yoo Hyun showing fine diagonal line striations that reveal a figure's face when viewed from a distance, mounted on a black background with a distressed white border
Hand holding a hand-cut paper portrait showing a face revealed through herringbone striped paper strips against a black background
Hand-cut paper portrait by Yoo Hyun made from thin white paper strips on a black background, creating a hyperrealistic image through parallel line patterns when viewed from a distance
Person bending forward to examine two hand-cut paper portraits with radiating strip patterns, displayed on a gallery wall
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