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At first glace, the 'Fahz' looks like an abstract work of art.

But a closer look at this 3D printed vase reveals hidden faces in its outline, or 'negative space'.

The vase was the brainchild of Nick Desbians, a designer from New York, who was asked to create an unusual gift for his wife on Mother's Day.

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'Rather than giving Martha a vase, I ended up designing a "generative vase creation algorithm",' he told MailOnline.

'I know, I also could have just gotten a card. But I've continued to play around with the program over the last few months and eventually we kind of wanted to take it out for a test drive.'

When his wife, Martha, received the gift, she noticed that by gazing into the negative space she could see the faces of her children herself, and her husband.

The profiles of Mrs Desbians' children appear on opposite sides of the negative space as the vase - or 'Fahz' -rotates, and these slowly transform into the profiles of Mr and Mrs Desbians.

The 'Fahz' vases were created using photos of Mr Desbian's family.

The concept came about when Nick Desbians, a designer from New York, was asked to create an unusual gift for his wife on Mother's Day. Pictured is the outline of Nick Desbians (right) and his wife, Martha (left)

Transforming photos into beautiful custom 3D-printed vases

He then isolated their outlines and used software to find out something known as 'vector geometry' which brought the profiles to life in negative space.

'Most images taken from the side will work, although higher contrast images produce more predictable results,' said Mr Desbians in his Kickstarter site.

'The outlines from the photos become the scaffolding for a 3D model that merges the distinct profiles into a seamless sculptural form.'

Under the banner Desbiens Design Research, the inventor now wants to use the funds from his Kickstarter campaign to buy a 3D printer to produce more Fahz'.

'The first step is to get our hands on that 3d printer,' he said. 'Then the real fun can begin. 

'Martha and my background designing high quality bespoke spaces for real people makes us extremely curious about the potential of new technologies to create a new type of bespoke design. 

'The idea can start with a vase, but the potential is much greater.'

The profiles of Mrs Desbians' children appear on opposite sides of the negative space as the vase - or 'Fahz' -rotates, and these slowly transform into the profiles of Mr and Mrs Desbians