The Playful Triceratops: A Hidden Display of Light and Interference

This artwork brings to life a playful, baby triceratops, captivating with its vibrant and lively colour palette. At first glance, the triceratops is full of joyful energy, radiating a rainbow of colours: red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and magenta. These bright and varied hues give the impression of a whimsical, lighthearted scene, where the triceratops seems almost ready to leap off the canvas and into a world of fun.

But there’s more beneath the surface. What appears as a simple, cheerful depiction at first holds a secret—a hidden layer of depth and transformation. The true brilliance of this piece lies not just in its colourful exterior but in how it interacts with light. When viewed through a prism at the correct focal distance and angle, something remarkable happens: the vibrant array of colours begins to shift and transform in a way that feels almost magical.

The original diverse palette of black & white with red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and magenta highlights condenses into a striking trio of black, white, and a single remaining colour—magenta as shown below. The transformation is sudden yet elegant, a dramatic simplification of the spectrum.

This effect is not random but a result of light interference, where the way light waves overlap, combine, or cancel each other out creates this specific outcome. The interplay of light and colour in this piece reflects the fascinating physics of interference. Light, when passed through the prism, interacts with the artwork in such a way that its wavelengths change, creating this stark and beautiful shift. The original vibrant rainbow becomes a minimalist composition of black, white, and magenta, offering a fresh perspective on the triceratops itself.

What once appeared to be a simple, fun image now takes on a new, more abstract form. The playful nature of the triceratops remains, but it is now viewed through a different lens—literally and figuratively. This hidden image, unlocked only through precise positioning of the prism, invites viewers to explore the layers of perception and reality.

In conclusion, this artwork is more than just a charming depiction of a triceratops—it’s a gateway into a hidden world of light and colour. By using a prism to reveal the secret behind the colours, viewers are treated to a mesmerizing display of light interference, where the full spectrum condenses into the singular presence of magenta. This transformation not only highlights the beauty of colour physics but also invites viewers to see the artwork—and the world—through a new lens, where magic can be found in even the smallest shifts in perspective.