The Phone Book Sculptures of Alex Queral

Philadelphia-based artist Alex Queral carves the faces of celebrities into phone books, then coats the results with acrylic:

For me, the human head was a natural choice of subject matter because of its inherent expressiveness. I carve the faces out of phone books because I like the three-dimensional quality that results and because of the unexpected results that occur working in this medium. The three-dimensional quality enhances the feeling of the pieces as an object as opposed to a picture.

In carving and painting a head from a phone directory, I’m celebrating the individual lost in the anonymous list of thousands of names that describe the size of the community. In addition, I like the idea of creating something that is normally discarded every year into an object of longevity.

Gallery at the link.

Link via The Presurfer | Photo: Projects Gallery