Q. What is positive and negative space?

A. Positive space is the area occupied by the main subject and negative space is the surrounding area (or the background).  These paintings by Francois Arnal play very effectively with positive and negative space. They were made by laying objects down on canvas (notice the shapes of razors and hinges among the softer shapes made by fabric), and then applying paint over them so that the shapes leave a ghost-like impression. The main image area (normally considered positive space) is white and vacant in these paintings, giving the impression that we are looking at an x-ray. Arnal has made a very clever space exchange by disrupting our experience of occupied and unoccupied space. These paintings call our attention to invisible interior spaces  (like the change in your pocket or the organs inside your body). Just because we cannot see them, does not mean that they are not there.

Here is another painting by Uwe Wittwer, Still Life Negative, which plays very beautifully with positive and negative space. Because the negative space is emphasized, we get the feeling that we are looking at the soul or afterlife of a bouquet, rather than the bouquet itself.