Amazing and realistic sculptures by Ron Mueck

Ronald "Ron" Mueck is an Australian hyperrealist sculptor working in the United Kingdom.

Ron Mueck began his career working on the Australian children's television program Shirl's Neighbourhood. He was the creative director , voiced and operated the puppets Greenfinger the Garden Gnome, Ol' Possum, Stanley the snake and Claude the Crow amongst many others. The show was made for Channel 7 Melbourne between 1979 and 1984, broadcast nationally and starred the ex-lead singer of Skyhooks, Graeme "Shirley" Strachan.

Mueck moved on to establish his own company in London, making photo-realistic props and animatronics for the advertising industry. Although highly detailed, these props were usually designed to be photographed from one specific angle hiding the mess of construction seen from the other side. Mueck increasingly wanted to produce realistic sculptures which looked perfect from all angles.

Mueck's sculptures faithfully reproduce the minute detail of the human body, but play with scale to produce disconcertingly jarring visual images. 

Mueck’s work is always out of scale from reality. His figures are either oversized or undersized. They strive for super-realism, but there is a psychological confrontation between these two contradictory realities, the effort to deceive by perfection, and the obvious discrepancy of scale. Ron Mueck’s work is sculpture. He does not make models, giant or tiny puppets. He employs all the techniques of technological advance to create works of art.

 Head of a Baby (2003), mixed media. Huge head of a baby. 

Untitled (Big Man) (2000) - a nearly seven-foot sculpture of a naked, completely hairless, belligerent-looking man sitting with his knees drawn up and his elbows resting on his knees, his head in his hand. The work is designed to sit in a corner. 

Angel (1997), mixed media - a 1/3-scale boy seated on a tall stool, in a brooding pose looking down, sprouting wings made of real goose feathers.

 Spooning Couple (2005), mixed media. 1/2 scale of partially clothed middle-aged man and woman lying in 'spooning' position as if in bed - artist's collection.

Big Baby II (1997), polyester resin, fiberglass, silicone, synthetic hair. 85 cm-high model of baby. 

Big Baby (1996), silicone, polyurethane, wood, synthetic hair. 85-cm-high model of baby with oversize eyes. 

Mask (Self Portrait)(1997) - eight-foot reproduction of Mueck's own face, frowning. 

  Boy (2000), fibreglass, resin, silicone - a 5-metre-tall sculpture of a boy, crouching. First shown in the UK Millennium Dome exhibition. It is now owned by the art museum ARoS in the city ofAarhus, Denmark, who use it as a trademark piece.

Mother and Child (2002), fibreglass, resin, silicone - 1/2 scale naked woman who has just given birth, the baby laid on her stomach with umbilical cord still attached and trailing to the woman's womb. 

Dead Dad (1996–97), silicone, acrylic paint and human hair - a 2/3-life-sized sculpture of Mueck's father lying on his back, naked. 

Two Women (2005), mixed media. Two diminutive, clothed, elderly women, standing as though gossiping.  

Woman with Sticks (2008), mixed media. 180 cm-high model of naked woman, bent backwards, carrying huge bundle of sticks. 

Wild Man (2005), mixed media. A nine-foot sculpture of a naked, bearded, fearful man clutching the stool he is seated on. 

In Bed (2005). Huge  woman lying in bed, hand raised to her face in a contemplative pose.