Metamorphosis Agamographs

Access the full lesson with vocab, teacher instructions, and step-by-step student instructions!

I put these in our art show last year and they were a hit! Since they are interactive in the sense that viewers need to walk from left to right as they view the piece to see the optical illusion, they’re super fun for audiences to contemplate.

My students also thought really hard about what images they wanted to be “before” and which ones they wanted to be the “after”. For example, some students made their “before” a beautiful beach scene with the “after” being a polluted shoreline. For some it was a baby photo turning into a current self-portrait. The creativity was really fun to see!

The top image shows how the individual paintings are marked and cut to be separated into strips that are laid onto a final accordion-folded piece (A strips and B strips). The next photo shows the strips being laid onto the accordion fold. For the example, I painted a chrysalis as the “before” turning into a butterfly as the “after”.

Take a look at the finished product and some examples below and try it with your students!

Access the full lesson with vocab, teacher instructions, and step-by-step student instructions.