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  • (fast piano music)

  • - [Narrator] At first glance

  • you might think that these were photographs.

  • But these are pencil drawings

  • part of a growing art movement called hyperrealism.

  • - When people look at my drawings

  • I would love them to feel a sense of emotion,

  • a reality, you know.

  • These are my works to bring people down to earth.

  • (upbeat music)

  • My name is Arinze Stanley.

  • I am hyperrealistic artist.

  • Hyperrealism is a genre of art that involves

  • making drawings or paintings that looks very realistic.

  • And you can't actually distinguish it

  • from a photograph or reality.

  • I started drawing when I was 6 years old.

  • My dad owns a paper factory.

  • I basically grew up around

  • a lot of paper.

  • When people see my works,

  • they are usually shocked that it is not a photo.

  • They go like, "Oh wow,

  • "is that a photo?"

  • Did you make that with a pencil?

  • And I'm like, "Yeah." (laughing)

  • (upbeat music)

  • Usually, my works take a long time to create.

  • Sometimes, I can make a piece for about a month.

  • Sometimes it could drag onto two months depending

  • on my mood and the size of the piece.

  • (upbeat piano music) I like to use

  • my works to speak on issues affecting my society

  • here in Nigeria and the whole of Africa.

  • Use the voice that I have through my art to speak

  • for people who can't speak for themselves.

  • This person is totally engulfed in oil.

  • This signifies how much we use oil

  • and destroy our society.

  • This signifies the see no evil,

  • hear no evil and speak no evil.

  • I'm encouraging people to take a step back

  • and try to emulate their childhood.

  • Trying to make people reset to default.

  • When I pick up my pencil

  • and put it on paper,

  • it takes me away.

  • It's something I can't explain in words.

  • (slow upbeat music)

(fast piano music)

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