ART

PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN

In an era dominated by Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, “Portrait of a Woman” delves into the intersection of humanity and authenticity. As a UX Designer accustomed to leveraging data for inspiration, I extended this approach to my art, blending quantitative and qualitative elements to inform this singular piece.

The foundation of this work lies in an oil painting crafted using a unique methodology. I employed ChatGPT and statistical data from the US Census to generate a single abstract representation encapsulating the diversity of American womanhood. Rather than printing individual images, I utilized this logic as a prompt in MidJourney, resulting in a collective portrait of all women in the United States.

To challenge perceptions of authenticity, I commissioned skilled artisans in Dafen, China, renowned for their replication work, to manifest the digital image into a tangible oil painting. This juxtaposition raises poignant questions about the nature of authenticity and authorship.

Layered atop the painting are 100 personal narratives collected from diverse sources, including friends, family, and respondents via SurveyMonkey. I partnered with ChatGPT to write Processing code to load and animate each story.  These narratives imbue the piece with a human touch, underscoring the profound impact of women in our lives and bridging the digital and physical realms.

“Portrait of a Woman” serves as a poignant exploration of authenticity and representation, inviting viewers to contemplate the complex interplay between technology, art, and the human experience.

Fertility Issues

Smith Corona Typewriter

Rain Dance

My mother is my best friend. When I was struggling with fertility issues she was always there for me and always gave me the courage to keep going since it just “wasn’t my time yet”. When it came to be my time and I told her she ran over to me crying and kept telling me she knew my time would come. She is always my rock when anything gets hard so sharing good news with her is the most amazing thing.
Mom was a school teacher with five boys and a husband when she decided to go back to school and get her Masters in counseling while still a full-time public school teacher in the “tough” Southside of Chicago. Mom still did her “mom and wifely duties” (this was the more chauvinistic 1970s) like by making dinner every day of the week. I remember mom pulling the card table and chair from the basement and placing it in the living room as her “office“. Mom sat at that card table for nearly three years most evenings typing her papers on her Smith Corona Typewriter after attending classes Saturday not online but at an actual brick and mortar school. I still boast with pride and pump my chest out as I remember her mom in her graduation robe.

So many stories to share, but one from my third-grade days stands out. Back in the 1950s, as part of our curriculum, we studied American Indians. I became fascinated with the idea of a rain dance. During my monthly visits to my grandparents‘ house, I decided to give it a try. One afternoon, with my grandma‘s encouragement, I danced my heart out under their oak tree. Lo and behold, it started raining. Excited, I asked her to keep it a secret. Years later, on her deathbed, she revealed that she had monitored the weather reports, waiting for the right time to ask me to perform the dance. That‘s when she shared that I had the power

True to Her Word

She’s in her 90th now. When I was a little girl she told me she wants to live as long as she will be independent, and she’s true to her words. She has pacemaker, very weak, but doing almost everything around the house herself and taking care of her husband, my father who has dementia. She has very good memory, concerned about all members of her family: me, 2 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren, remember all their birthdays, etc.love her and admire.

The Man She Loved

My grandma was a brave woman. She grew up in a very religious white family but fell in love with a Chinese man. Despite her parents trying to stop the church from marrying them, she was able to get married and have kids with the man she loved.

Moving In

We met oer a decade ago online and finally met in person a little over two months ago.  She’ll be moving in with me shortly.

Tiny Bug

We’ve been best friends since we were 10 and we are now 35. When we were 11, I slept over in her basement for a sleepover and I woke up to hearing a cricket. I saw it next to her head and decided that it wasn’t next to me so she’d be okay. She told me that she’d never let me live down the night I didn’t save her from a tiny bug!

Temper

As a young teen, I had a temper that got me into trouble, she said to me either you control your temper or it will control you.

 

Computers


She always has issues with computers and technology. She often calls me to ask for help doing tasks like printing or saving files