Taylor Swift isn’t the only one with a blank space. There has been a resurgence of the presence of the negative space trend on runways and in homes recently, due to the popularity of this artistic technique.
Negative space is the use of blank spaces on a surface in order to create shapes or an artistic form. This has been popular with artists like Piet Mondriaan and Henri Matisse, who take advantage of open space in order to create sleek silhouettes, which serve as the subjects of their artworks. These empty spaces create balance and interest, by forcing you to look just that much longer in order to see all the forms that have been created by the combination of positives and negatives. In this way, a unique image is fashioned, which draws in the viewer due to the presence of this emptiness.
This trend, like most in the art world, has made its mark on the fashion world, emerging in clothing prints and beauty trends. Clothing and shoes with cut outs make use of negative space in order to accentuate features of the human body that will flatter the wearer. This, in turn, creates an interesting style that is aesthetically unique.
Like many other trends, the use of negative space began emerging in home design. The use of white and open areas in design is one way of creating intrigue in a space. This design process, too, is facilitated by maintaining a minimalist mindset while designing, so as to ensure that when open space is used, the objects that fill it play with aspects of negative space.
Emptiness soon began filling a void that existed in the design world, making its way into pattern and fabric design and the beauty arena. With the explosion of the nail art trend, negative space took on a major role. People weren’t just designing their nails with images, they were creating a balance between negative and positive space in order to create nail art designs. As a result, each nail became a canvas, where nail artists could take on the roles of famous artists, doling out half-inch masterpieces on each fingernail.
Because of the popularity of this trend, art became fashion and design. Everyone was taking home a little bit of art each time they bought a cut out dress, or got a funky manicure. These negative space designs soon filled closets and homes, alike. In this way, another paradox grew from the art world: when emptiness began to fill space, negative became positive.
