ada

THE MYSTERY OF MINIATURES
Ada Huang 

A physical object imaged on the retina undergoes continuous changes in size, but we hardly notice. We look right through these changes, seeing an object of constant size at different depths in space. Changes in object size cue depth perception; once we know the size of an object relative to its surrounding, size changes signal to the brain where it is in depth. Can we become aware of these cues? What if the object image were extracted from its visual scene and placed in another context? Using images of miniature works of art from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, this project explores their placement in a variety of scenes, the artist's own photographs, toward kindling the viewer's awareness of size as a key cue in the perception of spatial depth.

This project was inspired by Tiny Treasures, an upcoming exhibition of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, curated by Courtney Harris. The exhibition explores the idea of miniaturization in art and how artists and artisans play with human perception of size and scale.