9 Unexpected illusions. Playful distortions. Familiar scenes reimagined. In this collection, artists from across the globe bend reality with paint, sculpture, and wit—placing a giraffe in a city block, turning bollards into Pac-Man, and handing Darth Vader a fishing pole. Scroll through eight moments that feel too unreal to be true, yet are all hiding in plain sight.

More: 12 Times I Found Street Art Cleverly Using Its Surroundings

1. Giraffe Eating the Plants — Jan Is De Man in Utrecht, Netherlands

A hyperrealistic giraffe emerges from the side of a residential building to nibble on balcony plants. Painted with seamless depth, the mural merges nature with the urban landscape in a scene that feels entirely possible—until you blink. More!:8 Happy 3D Artworks by Jan Is De Man

🔗 Follow Jan Is De Man on Instagram

2. Darth Fisher — Frankey in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Under a quiet bridge in Amsterdam, Darth Vader sits patiently fishing—with a glowing red lightsaber. This unexpected sculpture by Frankey turns the Star Wars villain into a calm waterside figure, lit eerily by the blade’s red reflection. More!: 6 pics – Darth Fisher (by Frankey in Amsterdam)

🔗 Follow Frankey on Instagram

3. Surf and Sand Club — John Pugh in Hermosa Beach, California, USA

This large-scale mural splits open the side of a building to reveal a retro beach scene. The faux 3D illusion draws you into the architecture itself, transforming the wall into a cliffside resort. More photos!: ‘Here Yesterday’ – Amazing 3D Mural in Hermosa Beach, California!

🔗 Follow John Pugh on Instagram

4. 3D Painted Turtle — Hebsart in Akumal, Mexico

Using both wall and floor space, this colorful sea turtle appears to float mid-air. The body is painted in striking blues, greens, and reds, enhanced by a realistic shadow that anchors the illusion. More!: 6 Walls Where Hebs Art Left Something You Can Still Feel

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5. A Photo Opportunity — WOSKerski in London, UK

A surreal mural of giant yellow pencils scattered in a greyscale mountain landscape. Tourists pose for pictures among the pencils, blending fantasy and street culture in this illusion created for SprayExhibition20. More!: 9 Times WOSKerski Made UK Walls Feel Like Glitches in Reality

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6. Tea Time Illusion — Yip Yew Chong in Singapore

A mural that spills out of itself—literally. Painted cups catch flowing tea from a teapot, while birds and laundry float between windows. The placement of shadows and spillage turns a flat wall into a dimensional scene. See it all!: Beautiful Street Art in Chinatown, Singapore (15 pics +video)

🔗 Follow Yip Yew Chong on Instagram

7. Matryoshka Truck

A cement truck painted like a Russian nesting doll rolls down a street, turning industrial machinery into playful visual art. The result: a moving sculpture that breaks expectations in traffic.

8. Hungry Bollards — Vanyu Krastev in Bulgaria

Concrete sidewalk spheres in Bulgaria transformed into hungry Pac-Man characters with just a pair of googly eyes. Artist Vanyu Krastev is known for bringing humor to urban decay by giving broken infrastructure a personality. More!: Googly-Eyed Art (17 Photos)

🔗 Follow Vanyu Krastev on Instagram

9. Flow of Life — Ty Mural Guy in Trail, BC, Canada

A 3D-style mural depicting interconnected hands catching and passing flowing water, symbolizing generosity and shared care. The composition bends perspective with cascading movement and geometric shapes that extend the illusion of space.

🔗 Follow Ty Mural Guy on Instagram

More: 30 Sculptures You (probably) Didn’t Know Existed

Which one is your favorite?

STREET ART UTOPIA

2025-09-21 22:01:00

11 Beautiful Artworks That Seem to Grow From Nature

Some artworks don’t just sit in nature—they become part of it. Around the world, artists are crafting sculptures and murals that seamlessly merge with their surroundings, using trees, vines, and landscapes as living elements of their work. These 11 pieces don’t fight against nature; they grow with it.

From giant figures emerging from forests to street art that transforms urban greenery into playful illusions, these eight stunning creations prove that art and nature can exist in perfect harmony.

More: 8 Inspiring Sculptures Seamlessly Integrated with Nature

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1. “Sleeping Child” by El Decertor (Imbabura, Ecuador)

A mural by El Decertor in Imbabura, Ecuador, depicting a young child sleeping against a concrete wall, with creeping ivy blending into the painting as a natural blanket.

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2. “UMI” by Daniel Popper (Illinois, USA)

“UMI” by Daniel Popper at the outdoor tree museum The Morton Arboretum in Illinois, USA—an intricate wooden sculpture of a woman with tree roots weaving through her body, set in a green landscape.

About and more photos: “UMI” Sculpture by Daniel Popper in Lisle, Illinois

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3. Street Art by David Zinn (Ann Arbor, USA)

A street art piece by David Zinn in Ann Arbor, USA, featuring a small green character with a real grass mustache blending into the pavement.

More!: Street Art by Happiness Maker David Zinn (21 Photos)

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4. Flower Street Art by Fabio Gomes Trindade (Goiás, Brazil)

A mural by Fabio Gomes Trindade in Goiás, Brazil, featuring a girl’s face with a real tree forming her vibrant pink afro hairstyle.

More by Fabio Gomes: How Fábio Gomes Turns Trees into Hair: Stunning Murals in Trindade

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5. Sidewalk Flower Experiment

A beautiful example of accidental nature-inspired art—kindergarten children dropped seeds into sidewalk cracks, leading to a spontaneous floral pathway.

More photos and about: Kindergarten children dropped seeds in the crack of the sidewalk to see what would happen

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6. “Nature Rings” by Spencer Byles (Deep Forest, France)

A series of woven circular sculptures by Spencer Byles made from natural branches, blending seamlessly with the surrounding forest.

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7. Willow Archer by Anna & The Willow (UK)

A woven willow sculpture of a female archer by Anna & The Willow, set against a wooded path.

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8. Wire Mermaid by Martin Debenham (UK)

A wire sculpture by Martin Debenham of a mermaid sitting on a rock, with the intricate metalwork mimicking flowing water.

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9. Snake in the Green — Hyères, France

A plain gray cinderblock wall in a hidden grove was completely transformed into a lifelike snake by street artist Rest4. The viper, rendered in vibrant greens, blues, and yellows, emerges from the shadows of the forest floor. The before-and-after framing reveals the power of imagination to awaken forgotten spaces.

🔗 Follow Rest4 on Instagram

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10. Fluentem Colos — Little Milford, Wales

Land artist Jon Foreman created this delicate, wave-like gradient in a woodland clearing using carefully arranged leaves. Starting in green and fading to deep orange, the sculpture blends with the forest floor in color, shape, and motion—appearing to ripple like wind through grass. More by Jon Foreman: 9 Leaf Sculptures That Stir the Soul in the Forest (Art by Jon Foreman)

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11. Florinda Camila — “WA” Marko Franco Domenak in Lima, Peru

This creative mural cleverly incorporates a real bougainvillea bush as the hair of a painted woman. A monarch butterfly completes the peaceful scene, adding movement to this blend of paint and nature.

🔗 Follow WA on Instagram

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More: When Street Art Meets Nature (40 Photos)

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Which one is your favorite?

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Street Artist Yip Yew Chong

By Yip Yew Chong at the wet market on 30 Temple Street in Chinatown, Singapore.

Yip Yew Chong: “While visitors are having fun posing for photos, I also hope they will get up close to the mural to study the details. This mural at 30 Temple Street is now probably the most intricate outdoor mural in Singapore! I tried making the details authentic, balanced with aestheticism and fair representation of the 1970s-80s Chinatown Street Market.

Many visitors who saw me paint it realized I didn’t plan every detail in advance. I had a broad idea in my mind, and then along the way, I googled images of say, different veggies, fish etc and decided on the spot which to add onto the trays. As for the stall selling monitor lizards, frogs, turtles and pythons, I intentionally put it the background and painted in a blurry, indicative manner.

I was afraid some visitors may feel scared by the sight. During the painting, I polled a few visitors, especially children. They all said the scene is not scary, and they can tell they are snakes and lizards, phew! While adding the blood, someone commented, “it’s enough”! I really enjoyed the painting process of having visitors on the spot contribute to the creation of the mural!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5B9_0taoNI

What do you think about this art by Yip Yew Chong?