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Environment

Meet the Body Painting Artist Blending Humans into Nature

Nude bodies get painted into jungle and desert landscapes to show the power of being one with the Earth.
Images courtesy of the artist

This article contains nudity. 

To represent humanity’s fragile relationship with Earth, Orly Faya paints her subjects into natural environments, each line and fold of their bodies used as a natural feature, camouflaging them into the terrain of their surrounding landscape.

Inspired by the diverse aesthetics of various landscapes and cultures, the multidisciplinary artist travels to remote areas of the globe and blends people into their surroundings. Using body paint, she hides them in in forests, on plateaus, or amidst waterfalls. This requires a lot of patience and willpower from both parties, as Faya tells The Creators Project, “People are literally and metaphorically standing for the cause—and this stand takes a lot of willpower, focus, commitment and determination. People actually merge with the earth in ways that words cannot do justice. It is an intensely beautiful experience.”

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Faya looks to tell powerful stories in her paintings, using the human body to connect society to the natural world from whence we came. She says, “My art communicates the fundamental truth that we as human beings come from the earth itself and our sustainability as a species depends upon this recognition, and lives lived harmonious with nature.”

Her work, in no small part a creative and spiritual journey, also comments on the increasing effects of consumerism on the environment. Faya is the founder of CreationsCalling.org, a platform harnessing creative potential in aid of environmental activism; her work tackles vital concepts around sustainability. Faya says, “Our lifestyles are generally over consumptive and we are taking from the earth more than we are giving. My intention is to help people wake up and remember themselves as pieces of earth.”

To learn more about Orly Faya's work, click here.

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