PAREDOLIA. definition.
paredolia is a psychological phenomenon involving perception of a vague and random pattern as significant or meaningful. It's the illusion that lets us transfer human qualities to rationally arbitrary objects, patterns and shapes. It's the beautiful delusion that lets us stare at clouds for hours, to find figures on muddy floors and perceive faces on stained walls. Paredolia is a predisposition to see faces whether they are there or not.
"The portrait of a cryptic owl" is a pattern formed by two separate objects. One is the northern wall of a brick house - it's round barred windows create the owl's eyes. The second, a model's silhouette, forms the suggestion of a beak. The result is the wide stare of a nocturnal bird we're all familiar of - the owl.
I'm convinced that without the phenomenon of paredolia our society would be a lot different. Art from a purely physical viewpoint is, in its essence, a carefully assembled collage of random matter. It's the human mind's ability to narrate that gives art its meaning and its power.
"The portrait of a cryptic owl" encourages the viewer to take notice and to embrace the suggestive patterns, fictional creatures and metaphysical faces that they would otherwise bypass and discard as irrelevant.
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