optical illusion

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with optical illusion

Illustration

Playful Illustrations by Yau Hoong Tang Layer Optical Illusions into Imaginative Stories

In Negative Space, Yau Hoong Tang derives imaginative and expansive storylines from minimal visuals. As its name suggests, the ongoing series plays with the relationship between presence and absence, layering optical illusions, embedded imagery, and other narrative cues within a single work.

The Kuala Lumpur-based illustrator is fond of weaving together several plots. In one work, an ink splatter also becomes wildlife inhabiting the world, with in another, a creature appears as a flying goose or a fox depending on where the viewer focuses. “I love using negative space in my illustrations as it creates more dynamics to an artwork and opens up a visual conversation,” he tells Colossal. “Its thought provoking nature invites viewers to discover the hidden meanings and spark imagination.”

While Negative Space is created digitally, Tang is currently working on a new collection that returns to more traditional, analog mediums. Shop limited-edition prints, and find more of his playful illustrations on Behance and Instagram.

 

Art

People Dangle from Balconies and Scale a Brick Facade in Leandro Erlich’s Disorienting Installation

You don’t need nine lives to scale the side of this vertigo-inducing structure. The latest installation in Leandro Erlich’s Bâtiment series appears to defy gravity with a disorienting facade-turned-optical illusion.

On view now at Liberty Science Center, “The Building” recreates the exterior of a typical New York City structure with metal balconies, an airconditioning unit propped in a third-story window, and a deli at street level, all of which are positioned on the floor and reflected in a gigantic mirror overhead. When viewers walk into the installation, they appear weightless and are able to effortlessly dangle from railings and stand perpendicular to the brick architecture.

Part of the center’s 30th-year anniversary Big Art program alongside Dustin Yellin’s hefty glass sculpture, the jarring work “finds its basis in questions I have about the way we perceive reality,” the Argentine artist (previously) says. “Art, the way I conceive of it, exists to pose questions about our understanding of the world; in many ways, science achieves what we know it to the same way—by asking those very same questions.”

“The Building” is on view in Jersey City through the summer. You can find more of Erlich’s Bâtiment series, which has been ongoing for more than a decade with projects in Paris, London, Buenos Aires, Donetsk, and Japan’s Echigo-Tsumari region, on his site and Instagram.

 

Art

Endangered Animals Dissolve and Reassemble in Thomas Medicus’s Anamorphic Glass Sculpture

Depending on which direction you approach from, you may encounter a lynx, a bee, a kingfisher, or a river trout in Austria-based Thomas Medicus’s new public installation. Moving around the work, one image gradually dissolves into abstract strips of color before a different creature assembles on another side. Known for his anamorphic sculptures (previously) that change with every 90-degree rotation, Medicus’s “Human Animal Binary” interlocks more than 144 strips of glass and focuses on four species native to the Tyrol region of Austria. All are endangered or threatened due to the increasing impacts of the climate crisis.

Constructed of glass, concrete, and metal, the vitrine that houses the artist’s glass animals nods to human-built structures and the urban landscape encroaching on natural habitats. The vessel itself “addresses a dilemma in which a large part of humanity finds itself: human habitat largely contradicts coexistence with non-human animals,” Medicus says in a statement. Contained within the cube, each specimen invites the viewer to look them in the eye and consider the delicate balance of the surrounding ecosystem, the fragility of existence, and the critical role humans play in both the destruction and preservation of nature.

Find more of Medicus’s work on his website and Instagram, and get further insights into the work in a short documentary on Vimeo.

 

   

Art

Precise Geometry and Color Gradients Undulate in Anna Kruhelska’s Three-Dimensional Paper Sculptures

In the meticulous folds of Anna Kruhelska’s paper sculptures, contrasts of light, shadow, and hue give the impression of undulating motion. An abiding interest in form, symmetry, and space developed from the Lodz-based artist’s work as an architect, combining precise engineering and design skills with and interest in geometry and origami. Reminiscent of the spatial explorations of Günther Oecker, humble materials form delicate patterns to create perception-bending, three-dimensional wall pieces.

Kruhelska’s earliest sculptures were constructed from white paper, which demonstrated how exact cuts and creases highlight the interplay between light and shade.  She then began to incorporate hued layers into the matrix-like surfaces. “I started mixing and combining contrasting colors to create an illusion of movement and to encourage viewers to view the work from different angles,” she tells Colossal. The works transform when they are viewed from various perspectives, revealing new colors and gradients.

You can see Kruhelska’s work in the Superspectra group exhibition at Laura Rathe Fine Art in Houston, which runs December 15, 2022, to January 12, 2023. You can find more of her work on her website and Instagram.

 

Art

An M.C. Escher-Inspired Series by Parth Kothekar Distorts Perspectives With Single Sheets of Paper

Harnessing the captivating power of pattern and mathematic principles, Parth Kothekar cuts meticulously deceptive works from single sheets of paper. The trippy pieces are inspired by the iconic optical illusions of M.C. Escher and utilize variances in depth and scale to create scenarios that appear three-dimensional. Some of the cuts are more pictorial and evocative of Escher’s “Relativity” stairs, while others rely on repetitive motifs alone to create immersive scenes of geometric shapes and lines.

There are currently 25 works in the Escher series, so keep an eye on Kothekar’s Instagram to see more of those and for news about an upcoming show at Raw Collaborative in early December. The Ahmedabad, India-based artist also sells some of his more nature-based papercuts on Etsy.

 

Art

Geometric Shapes and Three-Dimensional Illusions Disrupt Existing Architecture in Peeta’s Anamorphic Murals

Italian artist Peeta (previously) uses the interplay between shadow and light to turn flat, monochromatic planes into deceptive three-dimensional murals. His large-scale works sever residences and public buildings with curved ribbons, angular shapes, and geometric blocks of color that appear to jump out from or be built directly into the existing architecture. Spanning locations across Europe, the spray-painted works shown here are some of the most recent additions to Peeta’s extensive archive of abstracted illusions, which shift in perspective depending on the viewer’s positions.

In September, the prolific artist will travel to Fidenza Village in Fidenza, Italy, for his next project, and you can follow progress on that piece on Instagram. Until then, check out his shop for prints, posters, and the sprawling fragmented sculptures that inform his murals.