Termespheres 2023

Artist: Dick Termes

Termesphere paintings are tangible optical illusions. Artist Dick Termes’ inside-out views of the world tantalize the viewer in exquisite and colorful perfection

Termes describes each painting as a revolving three-dimensional space/time exploration of an entirely closed universe. Thus, a rotating painting represents a complete world or environment as seen from one revolving point. This required a new set of rules –“six-point perspective”- which make it possible to create an image on a convex surface that our eyes “read” as concave.

Dick Termes began designing Termespheres in 1968, and for the past 50+ years he has focused on his unique art, painting inner and outer views of the world on spheres. Termespheres have been exhibited internationally, and Termes’ painting “The Big Bang” enhanced the cover of “A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking (French edition).

Each Termesphere is an original painting in acrylics on polyethylene plastic balls, and they rotate from ceiling motors. (Two of the smallest ones rotate from motors inside the sphere using solar energy.)

Termes notes, “What you are seeing when you look at a Termesphere® painting is an optical illusion, an inside-out view of the physical world around you on the outside surface of a hanging and rotating sphere.”

Dick Termes has been painting spherical paintings since 1968 when he received his Masters Degree in Art from the University of Wyoming. He continued his pursuit of spherical painting with his thesis on the Termesphere® at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles (Masters in Fine Arts).

"A Termesphere painting is an optical illusion: an inside-out view of the total physical world around you on the outside surface of a hanging and rotating sphere.  Termespheres capture the up, down, and all around visual world from one revolving point in space.  Most of the time these spheres are painted on the outside so it takes a six-point perspective system to keep all of this environment around you organized."  Artist, Dick Termes

Gallery Hours: by appointments only 415-275-2066 to see work at Siy Gallery