Where did this project originate?
My education in art history was a sign of the times I grew up in. At RISD, freshman foundation included a full year art history lecture course which was decidedly focused on Jansen’s “classical” European art historical timeline (maybe 4th or 5th edition). I grew a love of ancient art history and took as many ancient art history courses as I could—ancient art and archaeology, art and archaeology of ancient Mexico, art and architecture of India—my love of ancient art, especially Greek and Roman, I can’t seem to shake.
Much of the imagery I generate stems from this classical romanticism. Ancient ceramics and mosaics, red- and black- figure pottery unburied from the earth and excavated from deep beneath the sea was the starting point. Then mutation occurs. Images are meant to sprout appendages and encrusted surfaces to echo accretion, mutation, and decay.
Image generated with Hugging Face Stable Diffusion 2.1
Image generated with Durer ai (now Exactly.ai)