10 Floating Pears

The pears are each painted in alternate strips (ie., like zebras). The mind has no problem filling in the blanks and seeing the pears as though they are each fully painted. However, serious incongruity arises where two pears overlap. The eye is able to see the entire depth (of field) of each pear, and yet neither pear is blocking the other pear out of view. This is "unsettling", and the viewer cannot locate the “backdrop plane” of the painting. The pears seem to float awkwardly in space