This artist has taken balloon animals to the next level

Staggering creations

Monday 01 June 2015 15:56 BST

(Masayoshi Matsumoto)

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The art of making animals out of balloons has finally transcended the children's party, with Japanese artist Masayoshi Matsumoto creating stunningly complex and lifelike creatures.

Incredibly, he uses no tape or markers - everything you see here has been made simply by twisting balloons together, with even beady eyes being made using tiny ones.

Matsumoto also makes anime characters using balloons, but it's his animals that are the most jaw-droppingly intricate.

There's a big emphasis on sea creatures, with seahorses, crabs, fish and even glow-in-the dark jellyfish, but his pink flamingo is also a work of art, along with a very muscular and mean-looking tree lizard.

You can view more of his work here.