Almost imperceptible against the green foliage, these human-like silhouettes appear to be standing vigil in the forest.

But the unsettling life-size figures – creating what’s been dubbed the predator effect after the 1987 film where an alien life form seamlessly blends into its surroundings – are a new, thought provoking art installation in the Scottish woodland.

Contemporary artist Rob Mulholland designed the series of six mirrored statues to make people think about man’s impact on the surrounding landscape over the centuries.

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Mr Mulholland made the figures with mirrored stainless steel and has designed similar installations for the forest trail around Loch Ard in David Marshall Lodge near Loch Lomondare.

The 51-year-old said: ‘The idea behind the installations was to convey the changes that have occurred in the landscape over the last few hundred years.

’These large forests were planted after the First World War as there was a massive shortage of timber nation-wide and the crofters and small hill farming communities were re-located by the government. I wanted to create a vestige of the people who once occupied and lived in this space.

’You can, even now, see the faint remains of their houses and stone walls in the undergrowth of the woods. For me it was both intriguing and poignant to think of…’

The sculptures, camouflaged amongst the woodlands, are shaped from silhouettes of people he knows.

Because of their reflective surface the chameleon-like figures can just about be distinguished from their surroundings.

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