Without applied paint, feathers or other materials, it remained an incomplete host.

WSJ: Americans' African Inspiration | African Art, New York, and the Avant-Garde | Metropolitan Museum of Art | By Michael FitzGerald

And several companies are working on materials that could one day be made into solar cells in the form of paint.

ECONOMIST: Small wonders

The competition takes place across multiple categories, including sponge paint, airbrushing and face painting, all featuring different techniques and materials to achieve the transformations.

BBC: Bizarre body painting in Austria

Elephant dung is one of many materials the artist uses in his works, which draw on collage techniques and employ acrylic paint, paper collage, glitter and map pins on canvas.

BBC: Artful elephants rewarded