We love this illustration created by Rafa Alvarez called The Paradox created for Opticks Magazine…
Personal piece used as cover for art magazine “Opticks”.
I wanted to make an apparently normal image but full of visual contradictions. I used a beautiful stock photography by Tim Platt as reference for the initial pose of the couple, then drew tattoos intertwining with the arms and bodies making the hug impossible. The predominant “never together” tattoo could only be read when the couple is actually close to each other, becoming another paradox. Many of the details like the Moebius strip refer to classic impossible geometry (M.C.Escher) and I also couldn´t help to throw in Schrodinger´s favourite pet. Definitely a lot of fun to draw.
