Nawa Kohei's Bubbled Elk

Nawa Kohei is now one of the most popular artists in Japan. He's only 35 but has a very clear vision on what he presents, which is a mixture of what's real and what's not (or virtual). Out of the several series he has, I like Beads and Scum the most.

Beads are these objects, which are originally live animals mostly elk, or real objects that have been glue-gunned with these random large bubbles. They no longer look real or at least lose the original shape enough that it may look like a tasteful and playful interior.

But if you take a closer look, the inside is real, and you can see the hair. Creepy.

He also created a double elk statue. This came from his disappointment that nowadays even stuffed elk that he buys off of the internet, come in the same pose for cost and commercial purposes. He wanted to counter this with a message and create a weird double-elk that are not twins but cannot be separated into two, and almost have the same posture.

In his profile picture, in front of his work of Scums, he looks very clean and normal.

Photo credit: Artist's website