Parents who leave their kids alone with seemingly innocuous items like glue and sticky tape will certainly live to regret it, but professional photographer Wes Naman’s antics with adhesive have landed him in a pretty sweet spot.

What began as a silly experiment born out of Christmas gift wrapping, turned into a full-fledged viral hit. Looking for a break from his flood of commercial work, the 37-year-old New Mexico photographer gathered a group of friends and plenty of Scotch tape and went to work, wrapping their faces to the point of crazy contortion.

Getting lots of mileage out of sticky eyebrows and noses, Naman discovered the best shots came when he asked the subjects — 33 men and women in all — to try to remove the tape using only their facial muscles. The result was the kind of extreme expressions that make for outlandish art, plus enough momentum to attract the attention of the Scotch brand itself — the company has reportedly given its stamp of approval by supplying endless rolls of tape for future projects. Perhaps a series of ads is in the works? With a little stick-to-itiveness, such a campaign could really take off.

What do you think of Wes Naman’s images? Which is your favourite? Let us know in the comments.