“Ronald “Ron” Mueck (born 1958) is an Australian hyperrealist sculptor working in the United Kingdom. Mueck's early career was as a model maker and puppeteer for children's television and films, notably the film Labyrinth for which he also contributed the voice of Ludo, and the Jim Henson series The Storyteller.

Mueck moved on to establish his own company in London, making photo-realistic props and animatronics for the advertising industry. Although highly detailed, these props were usually designed to be photographed from one specific angle hiding the mess of construction seen from the other side. Mueck increasingly wanted to produce realistic sculptures which looked perfect from all angles.

In 1996 Mueck transitioned to fine art, collaborating with his mother-in-law, Paula Rego, to produce small figures as part of a tableau she was showing at the Hayward Gallery. Rego introduced him to Charles Saatchi who was immediately impressed and started to collect and commission work. This led to the piece which made Mueck's name, Dead Dad, being included in the Sensation show at the Royal Academy the following year. Dead Dad is a silicone and mixed media sculpture of the corpse of Mueck's father reduced to about two thirds of its natural scale. It is the only work of Mueck's that uses his own hair for the finished product.

Mueck's sculptures faithfully reproduce the minute detail of the human body, but play with scale to produce disconcertingly jarring visual images. His five metre high sculpture Boy 1999 was a feature in the Millennium Dome and later exhibited in the Venice Biennale.

In 1999 Mueck was appointed as Associate Artist at the National Gallery, London. During this two-year post he created the works Mother and Child, Pregnant Woman, Man in a Boat, and Swaddled Baby. In 2002 his sculpture Pregnant Woman was purchased by the National Gallery of Australia for A$800,000”. – Wikipedia

Visitors to the National Galleries of Scotland view the work of Australian born, London-based sculptor Ron Mueck on August 4, 2006 Edinburgh in Scotland. Meuck's sculptures explore the full life cycle, encompassing birth, adolescence, procreation middle age, old age, and death. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

A visitors to the National Galleries of Scotland view the work “A girl” of sculptor Ron Mueck on August 4, 2006 Edinburgh in Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

An exhibition piece entitled “Dead Dad” is seen ahead of the opening of the Ron Mueck exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria on January 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Raoul Wegat/Getty Images)

An exhibition piece entitled “Drift” is seen ahead of the opening of the Ron Mueck exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria on January 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Raoul Wegat/Getty Images)

Visitors to the National Galleries of Scotland view the work “In Bed” of sculptor Ron Mueck on August 4, 2006 Edinburgh in Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

An exhibition piece entitled “Man in a boat” is seen ahead of the opening of the Ron Mueck exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria on January 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Raoul Wegat/Getty Images)

A man views a wall listing the known names of 800 out of an estimated 10,000 victims of Nazi experiments as a a memorial entitled “Man with Sheet” created by Australian artist Ron Mueck crouches silently as a testiment to the medical professions shame at the Medical History Museum April 29, 2003 in Berlin. (Photo by Kurt Vinion/Getty Images)

An unidentified man walks behind Ron Mueck's “Mask” at a press preview of Charles Saatchi's new gallery in the former GLC building County Hall, April 14, 2003 in London, England. (Photo by John Li/Getty Images)

An exhibition piece entitled “Mask II” is seen ahead of the opening of the Ron Mueck exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria on January 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Raoul Wegat/Getty Images)

Visitors gather in front of Ron Mueck's sculpture “Mother And Child” during the opening party of new built Brandhorst museum on May 19, 2009 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

Ron Mueck's “Still Life” installation is pictured at Belsay Hall, on April 29, 2010 in Belsay United Kingdom. (Photo by Clare Kendall/English Heritage via Getty Images)

An exhibition piece entitled “Two Women” is seen ahead of the opening of the Ron Mueck exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria on January 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Raoul Wegat/Getty Images)

A Visitor to the National Galleries of Scotland view the work “Wild Man” of Ron Mueck on August 4,2006 Edinburgh in Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Ron Mueck's “Woman With Sticks” installation is pictured at Belsay Hall, on April 29, 2010 in Belsay United Kingdom. (Photo by Clare Kendall/English Heritage via Getty Images)

An exhibition piece entitled “Youth” is seen ahead of the opening of the Ron Mueck exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria on January 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Raoul Wegat/Getty Images)