Wyna

Exercise 2.6 Pareidolia

The Brief

Referencing the work of Keith Larsen and Justin Sutcliffe, document any instances of Facial Pareidolia that you come across.  Take photographs, do drawings, and collect the objects if this is appropriate.  Start in your own home.  Notice faces in creasing clothes and fabric, the random arrangement of a collection of objects, as well as manufactured individual examples, patterns in textiles, carpets or wallpapers, food and drink, use lighting to emphasise or locate faces, shadows or patterns made with light on walls, look at clouds in the sky, in your garden as well as further afield.  It’s ok to move things around a bit.  These are a few examples: be playful and open to discovery.

Justin Sutcliffe

Justin Sutcliffe is a photographer born on the south coast of Britain.  He moved to New York in his early twenties.  Since then, he worked as a portrait photographer and documentary photojournalist, travelling to more than 80 countries.  He is currently based in the UK.

‘Objects are people too’ is a personal project, light-heartedly exploring the mental condition of Facial Pareidolia.  Nothing was set-up.  Nothing searched for…just faces unexpectedly observed in life. (Sutcliffe, 2023)

Keith Larsen

Keith Larsen (b.1991) is a self-taught American artist, designer, and writer.  His illustrations are published in collegiate textbooks in the UK, and his unique approach to art is taught in schools worldwide. (Larsen, 2023)

My approach

Justin Sutcliffe says that none of the photos was set-up or searched. This is important when looking for faces in unexpected places; otherwise, you are just building faces out of objects.  I am going to use the same approach when coming across Pareidolia.

Keith Larsen uses Pareidolia to inspire his art and create characters.  I will also create rough sketches in pencil and quick digital sketches to explore the same approach.

Figure 1 Watercolour paint splashes
Figure 2 Computer Laptop Stand
Figure 3 Handle of a chest of drawers
Figure 4 Camera boom arm
Figure 5 A book with paper markers behind a palette
Figure 6 Dog’s water bowl
Figure 7 Shoes and Shadows on the staircase
Figure 8 Pinch Pleat Curtains
Figure 9 Shadows on the cigar box and ashtray
Figure 10 Shoe trees (Shoe shapers) and shadows on the carpet
Figure 11 Ornaments on the Fireplace Lintel
Figure 12 Seeing an interesting face in a pile of firewood
Figure 13 A Sad Coffee Table in my Lounge
Figure 14 Coat Hook
Figure 15 Granny’s Silverware Chest
Figure 16 Fridge Magnets
Figure 17 Stack of Dishcloths
Figure 18 Prep Bowl and Dustbin
Figure 19 The Gap in the door and the Door stopper
Figure 20 The Arrangement in the TV Lounge
Figure 21 A Face in the Fireplace
Figure 22 A Cute Dog in the Fireplace
Figure 23 The Swimming Pool Net
Figure 24 A Tree Stump
Figure 25 Trees Kissing
Figure 26 The Knob of a Liquor Cabinet
Figure 27 Wooden Table Top
Figure 28 Nguni Rug
Figure 29 Hinge of Silverware Cabinet
Figure 30 Strike Plate of a Door
Figure 31 Window
Figure 32 Bathroom Tap
Figure 33 Jewellery
Figure 34 Air Purrr-ifier
Figure 35 Nespresso Machine (upside Down)
Figure 36 Post-It’s on a Notice Board
Figure 37 Watercolour Palettes
Figure 38 Reading Lamp
Figure 39 Scissors
Figure 40 Clip on a Tripod

Above are all the Pareidolia images I have collected.  The only objects I moved were figure 37, the watercolour palettes.  I flipped the top palette to create a mouth with teeth I had already seen in its original position.  This way makes it stand out even more.

I also photographed the Nespresso coffee machine upside down to make the upside-down face upright.

I enjoyed this exercise and can’t wait to develop these characters further in my sketchbook.  I think it’s a good idea to print these photos and paste them into a sketchbook so you can refer back to them whenever you need to spark some inspiration.

Works Cited

Sutcliffe, J. (2023, November 6). Objects are people too. Retrieved from Justin Sutcliffe: https://www.justinsutcliffe.com/albums/pdhQuc/objects-are-people-too

Larsen, K. (2023, November 6). The Faces within Places. Retrieved from The Faces within Places: https://www.thefaceswithinplaces.com

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