We’ve seen all kinds of creative ideas at Bored Panda, but Hirotoshi Ito’s bizarre and mind-bending stone sculptures really threw us for a loop. In his masterful hands, common rocks become strange, unsettling, and humorous creations that will make you look twice.

Surprisingly, it all starts in a riverbed in Ito’s neighborhood, where he picks up the small rocks he works with. Although most of us consider stone to be a cold, hard, and unforgiving art medium, Ito says that he would like to show others its potential to express warmth and humor.

“Although I work with various kinds of stones,” explains the artist, “most of my sculpture artwork consists of optimizing a stone’s original shape.” Many of these optimizations consist of juxtaposing a stone’s raw, natural surface with the painstaking modifications he makes to them to give them life. The finishing touch in many of his stone artworks also involves some sort of additional little piece that completes the illusion, like string or even a sardine can top.

Ito’s clever and beautiful sculptures from a material as unforgiving as stone reminded us of Alex Seton, an artist who created astoundingly realistic clothing from solid marble. Take a look at his unique art!

More info: Website | Flickr | DeviantArt (h/t: inhabitat)