An artist has created a homage to cultural and historical figures – by immortalising them as Star Wars characters. Mike Leavitt wanted to “document the pulse of our times” through his sculpture by splicing non-fiction characters with famous faces. He chose the sci-fi trilogy as a basis for what he calls his “pop culture satirical mash-ups”, with many of the pieces hand-carved from wood. The hilarious results include Albert Einstein as R2D2, Michael Jackson as an Ewok and Angelina Jolie in Princess Leia's famous slave girl outfit. Photo: Gandhi as Yoda. (Photo by Mike Leavitt/Rex USA)

A bride weeps in a mass wedding ceremony at the CheongShim Peace World Center in Gapyeong, South Korea, Wednesday, February 12, 2014. Some 2,500 South Korean and foreign couples exchanged or reaffirmed marriage vows in the Unification Church's mass wedding arranged by Hak Ja Han Moon, wife of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the controversial founder of the Unification Church. (Photo by Lee Jin-man/AP Photo)

Mirko Hanák was born in 1921 in Prague, Czech Republic and worked as a painter, graphic designer and illustrator. His specialties were animals and human figures that were full of life and fun. He also had a firm grasp on composition as his paintings were so well balanced despite his casual fluid line. He was working on “Charlotte's Web” the movie when he tragically died at the height of his career from leukemia in 1971.

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese film director, animator, manga artist, producer, and screenwriter. Through a career that has spanned over fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of anime feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli, a film and animation studio. The success of Miyazaki's films has invited comparisons with American animator Walt Disney, British animator Nick Park and American director Robert Zemeckis.

Laszlo Koday was born in Hungary in 1945. In 1970 he began as a self-tought painter. The life and work of Henri Rousseau made a deep impression on him. His pictures are fairy tales expressed by pictorial means, human, animal and nature are equally important in them. There are bright, with unmixed pure colours, compositions wich spread calmness and gaiety. Kaday's works are know not only in Hungary but in many countries and are included in many private and public collections. His paintings can be found in galleries abroad, for example the GINA Gallery.

Award winning Italian Bodypainter Johannes Stötter, paints his models to blend in to their backgrounds. The artist and musician based in Italy has created some of the most unique and life-like pieces of art we've ever seen. And yes, while some works like the ready-to-eat human melon heads creep us out, it's fair to say Stötter has owned his craft. Photo: “Melon”. (Photo by Johannes Stötter)

San Francisco-based design professor Miguel Cardona is selling his custom-drawn “Sketchcups” at Café Sophie for US$20 a piece to benefit Project Night Night, a charity that donates baby blankets, books, and toys to children in homeless shelters. Cardona discusses the project in an interview with Coolhunting. If you'd like to purchase or commission one of Cadona's pieces for yourself, you can do so for US$30 at his Sketchcups Store.

Myouchin Munehisa, 44, as he finishes Hibashi iron bells made of iron on a production line at Myochin Honpo shop on April 25, 2014 in Himeji, Japan. Myochin family's iron business, started in the Heian period (794-1185) of Japan as an armor and helmet maker, shifted as the needs of people changed in the course of history. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)