Figure and Ground - Ambiguity

“Building on memory and experience, the brain fills in gaps and filters out extraneous data”

(Lupton 99).

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I will admit, I struggled with this week's theme of figure and ground. One part of the reading that struck me was “creating ambiguity between figure and ground can add visual energy and surprise to an image or mark" (Lupton 288). I grappled with the idea of visual energy and surprise, and that is what inspired my manipulation of the "real world" and cartoon-like imagery. Mixing the media between photography and drawing is unexpected.  Often times drawings can appear flat next to photographed objects. However, I attempted to add depth to the digitized open window, creating a dimension against the flat blue brick.  The windows offer movement between the grouped butterflies producing an “active figure/ground condition[s] [that] churn and interweave form and space, creating tension and ambiguity” (Lupton 327).  I have "interwoven" these different forms of media and that generates space and ideas that are unconventional.

Window of Opportunity
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“In the act of perception, the brain puts together past experience and immediate sensory input in order to successfully navigate the environment” (Lupton 288). I think our brains are a very powerful tool in the way that it fills in missing information.  It leaves us wondering, where are they butterflies going?  Where did they come from? Are they transforming? 
This week I wanted to play with the tensions of the sensory input and design something that was “blocking, cutting, or distorting” something that was familiar. The simple plain blue wall has another meaning when the windows and butterflies are added. What I like best about this piece is that it radiates a feeling of hope.  

Excerpt From: Ellen Lupton. “Graphic Design.” Apple Books. 

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