American artists have drawn criticism after making stunning, intricate sculptures by pouring hot liquid aluminium into anthills.

A reporter takes pictures of a soldier during the annual Han Kuang military exercise in Kinmen, Taiwan, September 7, 2015. Rustic Kinmen, with a population of less than 129,000, is a half-hour ferry ride to China, but it takes an hour to fly to major Taiwan cities. Just off its shores, glass-walled high-rises wink seductively from the booming mainland port of Xiamen in one of China's most prosperous provinces. (Photo by Pichi Chuang/Reuters)

Aluminium ingots are stored at a foundry shop of the Rusal Khakassia aluminium smelter outside the town of Sayanogorsk, Russia, September 3, 2015. Russia's Rusal has decided to delay a decision on its possible first dividend since listing five years ago though its second-quarter core profit more than doubled thanks to cost cuts and a weaker rouble. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

A gibbon drinks from a soft drink bottle, given by a tourist, at a zoo in Kunming, Yunnan province, June 18, 2015. (Photo by Wong Campion/Reuters)

Zaria Forman is a Brooklyn-based artist who creates life-like works of art by using pastel colors to draw. The representations you see here are all created delicately by finger. Photo: “Greenland #63” 50x75, soft pastel on paper. (Photo by Zaria Forman)

A female referee counts as member of Uganda's Soft Ground Wrestling is pinned to the ground during a training session at their camp in Mukono on February 28, 202. Uganda's Soft Ground Wrestling is getting attention worldwide and becoming an Internet sensation. Members showcase their wrestling skills on their YouTube channel, performing inside makeshift bamboo ring posts with string ropes and soil. Currently, Soft Ground Wrestling has 200 members, most of them from unprivileged backgrounds, and include both men and women training vigorously as they dream of becoming professional wrestlers. (Photo by Badru Katumba/AFP Photo)

A doctor performs surgery on an injured man with a part of an aluminium alloy fence through his chest after a car accident in Zhumadian, Henan province, China, September 15, 2014. The doctor managed to surgically remove the piece. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

These beautiful shots may look like works of modern art – but they are actually close-ups of chemical reactions. The works were snapped with the help of a group of scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Anhui, China. Here: Zinc reacting with lead nitrate in a soft gel to form lead crystals. (Photo by Yan Liang/Caters News)