An Indian man known only as Hussaini has recently unveiled a shocking work of art – a bust of J. Jayalalitha, Chief Minister of the Tamil Nadu state, made from 11 litres of frozen human blood, donated by him and 32 of his students.

Apparently, nothing shows admiration for a person like making a creepy sculpture of them from human blood. At least that’s what Hussaini, a sculptor and archery teacher from Chennai, must have thought when he got the idea to create a bust of Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha out of his own frozen blood, for her 65th birthday. The noted artist wanted to thank the politician for being the “most sports loving CM of India” and for her support to his archery association, and since he had a few liters of his own blood stored for special occasions, he decided to put it to good use. You see, Hussaini has had his blood drawn at three-month intervals, over the last eight years, waiting for an opportunity to use it as a medium for his sculpture. But he only had 6.5 liters of blood, and this special project required 11. Luckily, his 32 archery students were more than willing to donate the extra 4.5 liters needed to complete the project.

Photo: Reuters

“Blood depicts the qualities of courage, valour and sacrifice of Tamil Thaai — the mother of the Tamils. These are the qualities the CM embodies, whom I revere,” Hussaini told New India Express. To create his blood sculpture, the artist first created a made one from clay. He then prepared a silicone mold, encased it in a hard outer shell and filled it with the 11 liters of blood. The mold was finally frozen at -27 degrees Celsius, for two months. On the day of the unveiling, Hussaini revealed the other big idea behind his plasma artwork – blood donation. “If I can organize 11 liters of blood, then every other citizen can follow suit and save many lives,” he said.

 Photo: Martin Louis/New India Express

Although he is aware of Mark Quinn’s frozen blood portraits, Hussaini insists his bloody masterpiece is the first one of its kind. “It was, however, only a life cast and not a sculpture nor a bust,” the Indian sculptor said about Quinn’s work. Still, there’s a chance this will remain Hussaini’s only such project, as J. Jayalalitha wan’t too pleased with his way of celebrating her birthday. Apparently, the Chief Minister advised him to never do something like this again in the future.