California-based artist Andrew Meyers’ screw portraits take several steps to execute. First, he places pages from a phone book on top of a plywood panel base. Then, he sketches his subject’s face and pre-drills 7,000 to 10,000 holes by hand. Once the screws are in at the correct depth, he paints over each head individually to create the finished product, which looks more like a portrait than a sculpture. “The real challenge comes when the sculpture is done and I have to get rid of the flat drawing,” he has said. “It’s hard because of the screws — you can’t get a brush behind them. I did figure out a way to do it, but I’m keeping it a secret.” Click through to get a better look at his labor-intensive works, which have sold for as much as $35,000 a pop.
