Inside the dazzling, weird world of bodypainting

Adorned in colour and make-up, these models look like they’ve sprung from the pages of a fantasy novel.

Welcome to the World Bodypainting Festival in Klagenfurt, Austria.

The festival is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and here are some of the most dazzling artworks on display. 

Photographs: Jan Hetfleisch/Getty Images & Leonhard Foeger/Reuters

Patient models wait up to six hours to be turned into elaborate works of art using everything from the humble paintbrush to extraordinary prosthetics and latex makeup.

Organisers said that artists and designers from more than 40 countries participated this year, creating designs which were inspired by everything from the natural world to mobile phones. 

Whether it's body paint, costumes or elaborate head gear, no design is too complicated for the artists at the festival.

Some of the costumes ventured towards the more bizarre. 

A woman in white holds a disco ball while staring into the camera.

This body painting contestant seems to have been particularly fond as being as glitzy as possible.

Spectators at the festival are able to admire the creations as they take to the catwalk, which this year celebrates a theme of ‘A Fusion of Beats and Bodies’.

There was a huge range of inspirations on display at the festival.

And here's a fun fact for you: Body painting has long been traditional in many indigenous cultures, but there as been a revival of the art form in Western culture since the 1960s