Long before he was picked up by mega-gallery Hauser & Wirth, Melbourne-born artist Ron Mueck was a household name in Australia. School kids were taken on excursions to museums to gawk awe-struck at his hyperrealist sculptures.

Starting out in TV and film as a puppeteer and special effects artist (notably in the Labyrinth where he was also the voice of loveable Ludo), it wasn’t long before he set up his own company producing realistic sculptures.

Today the London-based artist’s painstakingly detailed reproductions of the human body are collected worldwide and he’s had exhibitions at some of the most prestigious museums and institutions including the Royal Academy in London, the National Gallery, London, the National Gallery of Victoria and later this year at the Fondation Cartier in Paris.

Made from resin, fibreglass, silicone, polyurethane and synthetic hair the details on the sculptures are extraordinary – each hair, every pore, blemish, vein and wrinkle are revealed in a display of the human body that is both beautiful and grotesque.

I checked out the ‘Ron Mueck’ travelling exhibition of lilliputian and gigantic figures a couple of years ago in Brisbane at the Gallery of Modern Art. Take a look at some of his fabulous gobsmacking works below, and keep your eye out for his upcoming exhibitions.