Ancient civilisations have been brought back to life and given a modern twist by an art student from east London whose work was seen by some 5,000 viewers at the weekend.

Machu Picchu, the ‘Lost City of the Incas’ in Peru, was 27-year-old Hector Lloyd’s inspiration for his 40ft sq illustration of a modern lost civilisation that went on show at the Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane.

His artwork has modern objects like cars, a railway network and features people use in their day-to-day activities like shaving and brushing teeth with many details in extreme close up.

“It’s a bit like Where’s Wally,” he said. “The artwork shows everything, significant and insignificant, which may be happening at any given time, with intense detail.

“The inspiration came from lost cities of ancient civilizations and imagining what they might be like if they were still around.”

He created the illustration completely by hand which took four months to complete.

Hector, who grew up in Bow, was showing his work as part of the Middlesex University’s Art & Design show, which attracted 5,000 visitors including industry specialists.

He was highly commended last year in the Macmillan children’s book prize for his illustrated Eggsodus, a tale about an overcrowded planet of egg people.