Sculptures or Skyscrapers? Daniel Mullen's Paintings Look Like Both

“I aim to paint the the illusion of the illusion,” artist Daniel Mullen tells The Creators Project. “Like the shadows on the wall, in the analogy of Plato's Cave.” Part of his ongoing series Reality, Space and Emptiness, Mullen’s Spatial Inception project challenges visual perception with translucent compositions in thinly painted synthetic polymer and pencil on canvas shades of blue and orange. His futuristic pieces keep viewers guessing, from the canvas itself down to each work's ephemeral title: take, for instance, Constructing the Horizon, or Contractable Space. From one angle, his canvases seem like abstract architectures, as seen from a bird's eye view. From another, they resemble closely layered sheets of geometric glass. In this manner, Spatial Inception “raises a question of perception,” the artist explains, with lovely "constructions that can be filled with the viewers imagination."

Test your own perceptions in the warped world of Spatial Inception, below:

Event Horizon

Colossal Ascention (left), Constructing the Horizon (right) 

Interexpansion  For more of Daniel Mullen’s work, check out his website.

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