Second Skin explores what happens when analog faces are reimagined by generative AI. Starting from ink and paint, each portrait is then translated by a model that mutates the original into something unfamiliar — part human, part machine, part hallucination.
This series explores the boundary between human gesture and machine interpretation. Each piece begins as a hand-made face — painted or drawn with ink — then reworked by a generative AI model trained to reshape visual information.
The result is a kind of shared authorship. The final images retain traces of the original marks, but they’ve been abstracted, extended, and reimagined by a system I can influence but not fully direct.
These works ask: What happens to identity when it’s filtered through an algorithm? Where does expression end and computation begin? And how much of ourselves do we recognize in a face that’s been remade?
“Second Face #1”, Digital work, after the original drawing was run through a custom model in Runway. (October 2024)
“Second Face #2”, Digital work, after the original drawing was run through a custom model in Runway. (October 2024)
“Second Face #3”, Digital work, after the original drawing was run through a custom model in Runway. (October 2024)
“Second Face #4”, Digital work, after the original drawing was run through a custom model in Runway. (October 2024)
Digital work, after the original drawing was run through a custom model in Runway. (October 2024)
Exploring how identity and expression mutate when passed through systems we can’t fully control.
An untreated drawing of a face.Chinese ink, crayon, and watercolor on paper.October 2024.
An untreated drawing of a face. Chinese ink, crayon, and watercolor on paper.October 2024.
An untreated drawing of a face. Chinese ink, crayon, and watercolor on paper.October 2024.
An untreated drawing of a face. Chinese ink, crayon, and watercolor on paper.October 2024.
