Story By: Basant Essam, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash

These images show the incredible pieces created by an artist who can spend a fortnight making one by tightening thread around nails on a round wood plank.

Iraqui artist Saeed Howidi, 26, from the city of Karbala in central Iraq creates the art pieces using a method called philography.

He creates accurate portraits by threading string around nails placed around the edge of a round wooden plank after several days of intense focus.

The 26-year-old artist spoke with Newsflash and said he started practising the “so-called art of interlacing with thread and nail on his own in 2018” but focused more on “writing names, logo designs, decorations” and others.

He said the art received a “wide turnout and many of them were marketed in Iraq”.

The Physical Education and Sport Sciences graduate said he “could not stop at this point” because he is “one of the ambitious people who is looking for distinction and innovation” so he decided to learn to make portraits.

He explained he was “looking for the highest level of drawing personal pictures” adding that the form of art is “rare and distinctive in the world” and is now introduced “for the first time in Iraq”.

The pictures show some of Howidi’s portraits of famous personalities displaying an impressive resemblance.

The artist still finds it difficult to sell his art in the country for good prices considering he can take “between 10 and 15 days to make one piece from start to finish”.

Howidi considers himself as “the only specialist” in his country “at this level” and hopes to gain recognition both in Iraq and abroad.

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