Defining Shape

Figure/Ground

Composition






Face/Vase

As the negative spaces begin to approach the scale or complexity of the positive shapes, then the figure/ground relationships can become unstable and ambiguous. This ambiguity repeatedly reverses our perceptions of what is the figure and what is the ground. The face/vase illusion is the most famous example of this. We can perceive the image as either a black vase on a white ground, or as a pair of white faces on a black ground. Even though we can flip back and forth very quickly, we cannot see both vase and faces simultaneously.
 

Move the slider back and forth to explore the transition of the face to the vase. Click the button on the left to inverse the color of the graphics.