French tattoo artist Veks Van Hillik specializes in clever black and white artworks that change shape when the person bends their arms or legs.

Tattoo artists usually steer shy of elbows and knees, because of the way their designs are warped when the client bends their arms or legs, but Veks Van Hillik embraces the challenge, creating mesmerizing tattoos that turn into something completely different when people bend and unbend their joints. Examples of these ingenious designs include an elbow-positioned scarab that opens its wings when the person straightens their arm or an expanding koi fish.

You’d think that such shape-shifting tattoos require a lot of planning and pinpoint accuracy to achieve their desired effect, especially considering the permanent nature of tattoos, but Hillik reportedly freehands most of his artworks, which only makes his skill that much more impressive.

Apart from his work as a tattoo artist, Veks Van Hillik is also an established painter, whose unique popsurrealism style has become very popular with younger generations of art lovers. You can check out Veks’ paintings on his Instagram.

For more awe-inspiring ink work, feel free to check out the science-inspired tattoos of Michele Volpi, the holographic sticker tattoos of Clayton Dias, and the surrealist tattoos of Arlo DiCristina.