wtf?
Graceful Madness began in late July, 2022 as a challenge to myself to lose the fear of judgement I often saw in my work. My motto was fuck it, if you like it just put it out there. No rules, no over thinking, no fear. It was so freeing. Of course, I had 4 twitter followers at the time, and only told three people I was doing this, I never thought anyone would actually see any of it.
Contemporary digital artist
A study of time through
Homage to
Portrayal of
Larger themes mortality, longing, fragility, & resilience, restraint,
Debut
Untethered to any specific medium
Beyond established constructs of art
Wit, irony, playful, allure, seduction
Invite entice viewer
I’m a photographer first. Each photo has to stand on its own before it moves forward. Most of the images I begin with are street photography, so I’m always working within my environment. I’ve had a camera in my hand everywhere I go most of my life, capturing (and annoying) everyone and everything around me.
Having never formally studied, my approach is intuitive more than technical. Lights, angles, faces, places, feelings, and people are what drive me. No matter what or where, I am always inspired - shooting, planning, watching, listening, imagining. . . I can see the beauty and complexity in anything if I look at it long enough.
People often ask about my process - it’s not secret, just difficult to explain. And a little psychotic. Each piece is uniquely made. Many are made from each other, or several pieces combined, and so on. I add and remove components as I go, switching between mediums and platforms multiple times and back again. I digitally paint and draw details into the art, then will often start the entire process again. Layers upon layers of images, each with a life of their own, coming together to weave a new storyline and new characters who are somehow still the same. We are all connected in the end.
When it comes to the AI, I’m not a prompter in any sense. I use a specific combination of images, different every time, and do my best to confuse and disturb the learning software to yield different results. I have a vision in my mind from the start, the software is one of several instruments I use to achieve my goal. It can sometimes take thousands of edits to get there. I work on many of these pieces 24/7 for months.