Puzzle plate!

We saw this plate on the dining table in a friend’s house and we were fascinated by the image in the centre.
It was produced by a friend of our hostess and she has kept it on show and she says it is inevitable that a visitor will remark upon it!! It is certainly an unusual image - and it makes me shudder a bit! I would certainly not like to keep it out but I would give it a home in the back of a cupboard…