Within the contemporary world, 3D film and television imagery is at the cutting edge of visual technology, but for centuries we have been captivated by the creation of visual illusions/allusions
that play with our perception of the world, from the auto-stereoscopic barrier methods pioneered in
the late 17th century by the French painter G. A. Bois-Clair to the ‘Op’ art movement of the 1960s
and, more recently, Patrick Hughes’ ‘reverse perspective’ paintings.

By building on these new and old technologies I have extended my own practice, which engages
with the 2D image as a 3D allusion/illusion in glass, by examining how this type of image can be
created and perceived within glass. I have explored theories of optical perception in connection with
the binocular recognition of depth and space, as well as kinetic clues to distance through motion
parallax monitoring and assumptions about default linear perspective, light and inference within our
personal schemata.

- ‘Optical illusion’ is used to mean an instance of a wrong or misinterpreted perception of a sensory
experience; the distortion of senses revealing how the brain organises and interprets visual
information; an individual’s ability to perceive depth, 3D form and motion.

- ‘Allusion’ is used to imply a symbolic or covert reference.

My practical research focuses on the perceived creation of the 3D image within glass and explores
the notion of glass as a facilitator in working with and challenging the themes of 3D image
perception. I have particularly addressed artistic spatial illusionary methods, reverse perspective
techniques, auto-stereoscopic image-based systems, parallax stereograms and lenticular print and
lens technology.

Through building on my previous practice of working with multiple-layered images within cast glass,
combined with more complex and scientific optical methods, I have explored the perception of the
image by working with new and old 3D technologies in order to produce a body of work which
examines this perception within glass.

During my research I have developed an original casting process, a vacuum-casting lost wax process
for glass, in addition to producing an accurate industry standard lenticular glass lens. This research intends to provide a theoretical basis for new glass working techniques, both within the glass artist’s studio and in the commercial world of print, towards applications within architectural design, installation art and image-based artwork in general.

This thesis is therefore a summation of the research that I have undertaken over the past six years
and an attempt to give substance to the ideas and references that have preoccupied my own
investigations over that period.

I have structured the thesis into three themes: perspective; perception; and process but those three
elements were never separate from each other and not only do they depend on each other, their
purpose is, in some way, to combine in the creation of my finished pieces.