Artist Justin Bateman Creates Stunning Mosaics Made From The Pebbles He Finds Around Him

Many contemporary artists have taken ‘thinking outside the box’ literally by bringing their creativity and artistic talents beyond the boundary of their paper canvas. Some artists are taking their art to the streets to transform dull urban spaces into vivid masterpieces by creating impressive murals and even using Perler beads to create 3D sidewalk sculptures. British artist Justin Bateman, on the other hand, is known for his stunning pebble art featuring detailed portraits made entirely of natural-colored stones.

Bateman is now living in Chiang Mai, Thailand and has since used the natural landscape of the city as his canvas. Instead of using paint or other synthetic materials, the artist uses pristine rocks to form intricate artworks. And leaves his ephemeral masterpieces on beaches, forests, sidewalks, and mountains. Bateman describes his pebble art as impermanent portraits that leave only footprints. Using natural rocks as his pixels, he makes use of the stones’ natural hues to depict faces of prominent figures.

Pebble Art Featuring Detailed Portraits Made Of Natural Stones

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His pebble art features iconic personalities in various subjects including religious, political, entertainment, art, and also current events. The artist finds inspiration from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of creating colorful mandalas made from colored sand. Ritualistically, a sand mandala is destroyed once it has been completed to symbolize the evanescent nature of material life.

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But instead of colored sand, Bateman uses stones that he collects from the surrounding. He makes use of the stones’ natural color and arranges them on the ground to draw awe-inspiring portraits. After taking pics of his creations, he leaves them and let nature dismantle and reclaim the stones eventually.

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Take a look at his remarkable pebble art on our compilation of his most stunning creations so far. You can also follow the artist on Instagram to see the complete archive of his artworks that really rock.