In 1997, I remixed the Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting Mona Lisa, into 142 perfectly spaced color beads placed at the intersections of an imaginary two-dimensional triangular network. Close up, the picture of the set of beads makes no sense, but if you see it from a distance you will perceive (or at least ‘guess’?) the portrait of Mona Lisa, the most famous Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting.
Our unconscious biases and stereotypes can influence our brain’s visual systems, leading us to perceive things and people in ways that align with these stereotypes.
Seeing nude women? Before assuming it’s pornography, reconsider… It’s fascinating how our minds are conditioned and stereotyped: in the first image, we instantly envision women in Adam and Eve attire, whereas the second presents a different reality.
Embarking on a journey in a Klein bottle? Absolutely. A Klein bottle is a mind-bending non-orientable surface, defying the usual inside-outside norms. Technically, the ship’s navigating the interior…
Snag prints and cool merch from my online gallery.
Even bounded, my dynamic Müller-Lyer illusion works perfectly; the static segments of the star appear to alternately contract and expand.
Presenting “The Master of Numbers,” my acclaimed artwork. This photomosaic portrait, assembled from 288 random number-themed photos, creates a captivating optical illusion, revealing the image of a great physicist from a distance.
Currently showcased in numerous Museum of Illusions globally, posters and prints of this optical art can be found on my online store.
Are you seeing spirals? Look again, they’re actually concentric circles! This unique variation of the “Fraser spiral” plays tricks on your eyes by blending a regular line pattern (representing the circle’s circumference) with misaligned elements (the spheres with varying brightness).
Would you like to learn how to create this mesmerizing illusion? Follow my simple visual tutorial. If you have any ideas to further enhance this project, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Continue ReadingWith this work, I aim to push geometry to its limits, transcending the confines of color. My goal is to showcase the creative potential of simple concentric squares as a medium for experimentation and the discovery of new op art patterns. By delving into this exploration, I strive to unveil captivating illusions of color and mesmerizing motion.
Draw a large and a small square with thick lines and center them (Fig. A). Next, blend the inner and outer squares in six steps to create a set of concentric squares. Reproduce the set to form a larger square pattern, as shown in Fig. B.
In these minimalist op art pieces, I delve into the metaphoric realm of geometric shapes, with a particular focus on the hexagon as the foundational element for creating cubes and other simple three-dimensional regular shapes.
The artworks I present depict solid or three-dimensional structures that appear plausible and real, yet are in fact illusions known as ‘impossible figures.’ However, discerning these impossible figures isn’t immediately evident; one must concentrate on specific areas of the representation to grasp that they could never exist in reality! Drawing an impossible stereographic structure becomes achievable by merging two or more contrasting viewpoints or perspectives of the same object, or even by blurring the boundaries between the exterior and interior of an object…
The more ‘normal’ and ‘simple’ an impossible figure appears, the more captivating it becomes! Indeed, impossible objects aren’t created solely to bewilder the eyes; their purpose lies in confounding the mind and challenging one’s acquired visuo-spatial skills and stereographic knowledge.
The two intricate drawings displayed above and below combine two tribars to form an impossible isometric cube, showcasing a mesmerizing interplay between form and illusion.
Do our eyes truly act as the gateway to the world, as poets suggest? Not quite. We see the world through tiny pupils that act as spy holes. Our brain is like a creative ‘camera obscura‘, constantly comparing differences between images received by each eye and individual elements within each image. This makes our eyes highly sensitive to contrasts in brightness, sharpness, and depth. Sometimes, our brain tries to correct what we see.
Try this experiment: Look at the blurry face below next to the sharp one for 20-30 seconds (staring at the fixation star between them), then quickly shift your gaze to the same scene further below. You’ll notice that the previously clear face now appears blurry while the previously blurry face appears clearer. This illusion, called contrast adaptation or contrast gain control, occurs because prolonged exposure to blurry images affects our visual acuity and sensitivity to contrast.
As an artist, I enjoy including subliminal messages or figures in my work. My paintings, photographs and collages play on the foreground and background relationship of our visual perception and represent common or iconic faces the viewer has to rediscover.
In this magical bookmark of my creation, a portrait of M. L. King appears when held over a blank page or up to a light. From his famous words, we are reminded that, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.” A neat gift available from Art of Play.
While in this one below, a portrait of Gandhi appears when held over a blank page or up to a light — a subtle reminder to read with intention and “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Still available from my partner Art of Play.
