Illusion is an original, one-of-a-kind mixed media painting (acrylic/pastel/paper/marker) on canvas.  Subtitle:  Me in front of an Ames window illusion, one of whose openings is a mirror, which reflects me as an illusion.

I’ve played with illusion vs reality in the following ways:

• In the main picture, the grey of the Ames window appears lighter to the left because of different backgrounds.  It’s all the same grey colour.
• In Detail 1 I show the bent lines illusion (not sure it has a name).  It doesn’t work as well if the squares aren’t black and white, but the lines do appear to slope a bit.  And I used a picture of one of my self-portraits for the squares – you may be able to see the edge of my mouth, nose and glasses.
• A painting can create the illusion of a 3-dimensional figure, which the figure of me does, but I’ve indicated in Detail 2 that it’s an illusion because the background overlaps the figure, and some of the lines of the Ames window show through the figure.
• Detail 3 shows the impossibility of gravity running upwards via the red drips.
• Detail 4 shows the Hering illusion, where the straight parallel lines appear to bow outward.  Also, the extended lines outside the Ames windows at top left and bottom right appear to bend toward the upper corner of the piece.
• Detail 4 also shows the whole background of coloured shapes and lines, emphasizing the unreality of the scene.

It measures 24 x 18.  I painted the work in 2025; it is signed on the front.

Not for sale.

Artwork

You can also see my work on Instagram, my Facebook art page and Pinterest

Home