All illusions stand as a reminder that we cannot always rely on our senses. So, if you’ve been wondering what makes these visual illusions happen, the answer is your brain. Our eyes detect light and objects and send those signals to our brains, which then decode the information into the image we see. However, some images are more difficult to decode than others.

There are a few different ways our brain can interpret illusionary images. In this case, we see a phenomenon that makes it seem that the image is moving when it obviously isn’t. A static image can appear to be moving due to the cognitive effects of interacting color contrasts, object shapes, and position.

Bored Panda reached out to Talal, who shared more about the inspiration behind his art.

“My work is inspired by an obsession with illusion and reality - how they interact with each other and the muddy Waters of perception. I like to juxtapose the white and the black to create abstract spaces with an observer to distance myself from illusion. It has also been my journey into letting go of addictions,” shared Talal.

We also asked Talal to tell us more about his creative process. He wrote: “My creative process is iterative and sometimes scientific/methodical. I tend to create art without thinking about anything. My aim is to never think and just let the stream of consciousness get into the canvas. Then I sleep on it and improve my art the next day. After 3-4 iterations, I find art that evokes my true raw feelings. It's like stripping away all the unnecessary to get to the core.”

Talal also explained the link between his illustrations and his business PSYcreative.

“My illustrations have always been a creative outlet but my business PSYcreative is a branding agency. We work with brands with their branding, website, social media, and more. I do use my illustrations as commercial work, but primarily they are pure expression and (hopefully) devoid of commercial intrusion.”

Talal shared what he would like for people to take away from his illustrations: “I hope the message people get from my work is to observe the observer. And distance yourself from it. You might be trapped in your own illusions (aren't we all?) but it's important to not take our thoughts at face value. Your mind is a word machine and generates anything and everything. It's only when we recognize not to take it so seriously that we can break free from our own thoughts and illusions.”

And lastly, he added: “I'd say everyone should take an inward journey and take it seriously. It's the only true way to change and is massively rewarding. Don't let fear get in your way of doing that.”