Catriona Secker - Artificial Subconscious

About

'Artificial Subconscious' presents a collection of new paintings, drawings, and felt wool sculptures by Catriona Secker . This series draws inspiration from a blend of public domain natural history illustrations and Secker's own past work, as reimagined through the lens of emerging technological tools. Opening reception: Saturday April 27th, 6 - 9pm, 6pm - 9pm. Drinks will be provided by our friends at Better Beer. This exhibition will run from Apr 28th - May 19th and will coincide with Adrian Cox's 'The Labyrinth of Unknowing' , Katie Gamb's 'Misfit Toys' and Ginklet's 'Ginklet's World'. This collection has evolved from Secker’s longstanding exploration of consciousness, connections, and the evolution present in nature, with the integration of technology serving as a tool to deepen these inquiries. The creative process has opened new avenues for nuanced exploration of these themes. A particular interest of the artist is the imaginative transformation of natural creatures into entirely new beings, a concept that resonates with the innovative techniques employed in the creation process. Through experimentation with generative artificial intelligence programs, Secker frequently employed text prompts, ranging from the vaguely defined to the outright nonsensical, alongside images of her own paintings and natural history illustrations to gauge the technology’s creative interpretations. The outcomes were often surprising, birthing new organisms and landscapes ripe for artistic rendition. Initially, the AI’s tendency to integrate random letters and nonsensical words into its imagery led the artist to use these elements as prompts, alongside her personal artworks, yielding intriguing and unforeseen results. These experiments suggested that, to the AI, such randomness bore hidden meanings, with specific phrases consistently producing images of bizarre, bear-like creatures, or strange hybridisations of biological entities with man-made objects. This phenomenon echoes the surr