A Chinese-born university student has captured worldwide attention with her "hyper-real" artwork painted on human bodies.
Hikaru Cho, 21, is in her third year at Musashino Art University in Tokyo, Reuters reports.
She said her path into body painting was an unlikely one.
"It all began when I wanted to paint something at home and I looked around for something to paint on. I couldn't be bothered to look hard so I used my hand and painted an eye on it," she said.
"That turned out to be quite freaky, so I took a picture and when I showed that to people they were very shocked - more shocked than I thought would be possible."
The Chinese artist - who has lived in Japan all her life - said she was frustrated by people's preconceived ideas about her based on her nationality, and wanted to shed light on that through her work.
"People tend to judge others just by their appearances, the colour of their skin, their eyes," she said.
"I think that is really stupid. So I create these pieces of work with a message to others that not all is what it seems on the surface."
Her "hyper-real" work was used in an international campaign for Amnesty International, called "My Body My Rights," earlier this year.
Watch a stop-motion video of Hikaru Cho's work in the video player above.
