The flowers are every shade of pink from the palest blush to bright magenta, the leaves so delicate and imbued with so much detail that they look real. Next to this picture is a stunning portrait of two couples – their smiles warm, their eyes shining brightly.
At first glance these pieces of art look like they’ve been painted. But peer closer and you will see they have been made out of a hundred tiny slivers of paper cut out from magazines, greeting cards, wrapping paper, wedding invitations and gift bags.
"Some of the more intricate pieces – like the peacock and the couple with flowers – take about two weeks or even more to complete,” says Unni Menon, a Dubai-based business consultant who started creating works of art from scraps of paper while recuperating from a heart bypass.
Over the years, he has honed his skills in paper art to such an extent that three of his pieces are contenders in the 2012 Emirates Skywards Future Artists Competition, which invites works from artists around the world. Its aim is to find the world’s most exciting, undiscovered talent.
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