This Body-Paint Artist Transforms People (Including Ariana Grande) Into 2-D Paintings

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Alexa Meade is an artist who turns the traditional notion of art on its head — instead of capturing the real world on a flat canvas, the real world is her canvas. Through detailed, trompe l’oeil brush-work painted directly on humans or objects, Meade transforms the three-dimensional world into a two-dimensional one.

While her art has sent her all around the world, Meade made headlines recently for painting Ariana Grande in her God Is a Woman music video.

The Cut met up with the artist to find out more about her process, the ungodly amount of paint she goes through, and what it’s like to toggle between the 2-D and 3-D worlds.

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This Body-Paint Artist Transforms People Into 2-D Paintings