You only need to steal a glance at 26-year-old Queensland native CJ Hendry’s work to spot her infatuation with detail. Hendry’s painstaking creations have garnered her over 53,000 Instagram followers, attracted worldwide attention and secured private commissions from the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow.

Armed with nothing more than a black UniPin pen and velveteen sheets of Arches paper – a stock known for its soft, feathery texture that is notoriously difficult to work with – Hendry gets to work. First selecting her subject; or rather letting her subject select her, lured to it through ‘obsession’, what follows is nothing short of methodical. After propping up the subject matter – a luxury handbag or waxy Saint Laurent dress shoe, a crumpled Hermès paper shopping bag, vintage saddle, pistol or a longhorn head – using whatever she has on hand (more often than not weathered university textbooks and several strips of masking tape) Hendry photographs her inspiration. She brands her subjects ‘trophies’, designer pieces she’s collected and treasured over the years.

Hendry shoots her subject, angle after angle with manic repetition, like a paparazzo chasing a victim, until something eventually jumps out at her. She makes it clear however that she is no photographer. “I believe people use the word too interchangeably; taking photos does not mean you’re a photographer. I have a great camera but honestly it sits on the auto setting. I wouldn’t have the faintest idea how to run the thing. Having said that though, my sketches are only as good as the quality of the photograph, just imagine if I learnt how to use a camera”.

What she renders is an almost mirror image photorealism. The tender curving of Gucci buttons and soles of shoes remind us there is penmanship at work here, in which case we can only sit back, catch our breath and submit to the spellbinding talent Hendry so clearly possesses.