What if a painting could have consciousness? “Streaming Evolution” is a project where I explore this question and what makesart human. Influenced by cognitive science, particularly Douglas Hofstadter‘s concept of a “strange loop,” this series explores how consciousness might arise from self-referential structures—systems where self-reference and recursion create an emergent phenomenon. Incorporating this idea, I create a painting that talks about itself by including preliminary sketches into the final painting as a variation of a “Droste effect” or an image within an image. The painting is autodidactic as the act of doing the work teaches how the work should be done.
I draw inspiration from art history and the concept of “pentimenti”— where a painter’s hidden alterations and earlier images can be seen beneath layers of paint. I’ve always found the artifacts of an artist’s mind to be quite beautiful. While artists don’t intend for pentimenti to happen, for me, it is my aesthetic objective. My thought process is layered directly on the canvas, from color compositions to textural combinations to concept development. Layers build upon each other in a cycle of call and response, creation and destruction, shifting from abstract to figurative. Each layer allows previous iterations to show through, capturing the painting’s history and its response itself. A single painting has the potential to become several paintings layered on top of each other.
I choose to paint in public to allow the painting to evolve within an ecosystem. As my curiosity and creative process dynamically unfolds on the canvas, passersby are welcome to have conversations with me and become part of the art-making. I’ve been reflecting on how human made art is different from AI-generated images. What separates this project from AI-generated images is that it is an expression of connection with the physical world that is temporal, spacial, and social.
This painting will continue to evolve indefinitely until it is purchased. Once a month, this painting will be available through silent auction.
Streaming Evolution, Painting 2: Acrylic, 79” x 80”
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