In an image, the “positive” shape is generally the figure; a dark form on a lighter or otherwise differentiated background. This background around the figure can be defined as “negative” space. Although many images feature this relationship, it can also be reversed to show light shapes on dark grounds, or alternate between to make the relationship unclear but maintain a defined image, commonly seen in logos and brainteasers and such.
To explore this relationship, we completed several assignments.
First, we made a collage using blocks of text of varying densities cut from various newspapers to give the illusion of different values.
I made a mask, attempting to use a gray TV schedule to make a darker base, and then used light japanese text for highlights, and slightly darker English text for shadows. I also used alternating strips of light and dark columns of text for the background, in an attempt to differentiate its values from that of the mask. While the values were not as differentiated as I had hoped, the image is still quite clear.
Next, we chose certain symbols that we felt had a connection or significance to ourselves and our work, documenting it in the Signs and Wonders sketchbook assignment. For me, the mask was one of these symbols.
In my work, I like to explore the relationship between beauty and terror as well as duality, so many of my symbols have both good and bad meanings, or are a bit morbid. I had reflected on this in the past, so coming up with this list of symbols was quite easy.
From there, we brought our newspaper collage into Adobe Illustrator, then outlined, differentiated, and filled all the individual shapes present.
With these positive and negative shapes, we constructed 3 new images of the symbols we chose, combining them with the relationships of figure/ground to create one positive black-on-white image, one negative white-on-black image, and one ambiguous image. Building these images, especially with the restrictions in what they could be, was quite difficult as my collage did not give me many individual shapes to work with. However, I finished through trial and error. I kept the separated shapes of the mask in my workspace, and then arranged them in different ways shapes until I found images that worked. From there, I added small details to form a cohesive symbol.
My white on black image was a bat, an omen of death in some cultures but a sign of good luck in others. This image had to do with my idea of the symbolism of death. I dragged large pieces around the edges of the canvas to create a black background until a shape began to form, and from there I dragged details of the mask to create an imprint of a bat flying overhead.
Adding to the same vein of symbolism, I made a reaper slipping between some huts or other structures for my ambiguous image. While death and specifically the reaper has a negative connotation in many cultures, I like to look at it through a couple different lenses, playing with the idea as death as a form of rebirth and even further life, and that death and the grotesque can be a source of beauty. While the figure of the reaper is white on a black background, its scythe and the structures it is moving through are black on a white background. I was originally trying to make two faces for this image, one black and one white, but the sharp shapes of the mask’s nose gave the image of a reaper’s hood, which is where the idea and finished product came from.
For my black on white image, I made a dragon flying over a bridge. Dragons are a very personal symbol to me as it is my Chinese zodiac sign, and a creature I feel represents my personality and ideals well as they are both powerful, mystical, and intelligent. This image was the most clear cut for me, as I found it easiest to work with the black shapes of the mask rather than fitting the little negative space in it together. I used many of the small lines like the shadows of the cheekbones in the mask to make the details or the image, and the side of the mask itself for the bridge.
