Wrapped Wonders

Context

In the early 19th century, the emergence of photography catalyzed a paradigm shift, reshaping perceptions of reality and authenticity. Hand-colored daguerreotypes, often mistaken for oil paintings, exemplify how this revolutionary medium blurred the boundaries between photography, visual representation, and reality itself.

Fast-forward to today, AI-powered text-to-image models are once again expanding the boundaries of visual representation, making it increasingly challenging to discern what is real from what is artificial. Yet, unlike the photorealistic aspirations of many AI models, this series seeks to redefine photography by exploring a new kind of photographic language. By blending realism and abstraction, it moves into new visual territories, reimagining how we perceive and create photographic imagery.

The Wrapped Wonders series (January 2023–December 2024) bridges digital photography and AI-generated imagery. Built on a Stable Diffusion model trained with a database of my own photographs, the AI was used to render silhouettes created from drawings and collages through ControlNET, combined with text-to-image prompts. This process forced the AI model to interpret abstract shapes as figures, resulting in outputs that balance intentional forms with unpredictable and often surprising outcomes.

Rather than pursuing photorealism, Wrapped Wonders embraces abstraction, blending melted pixels and layered textures to evoke the expressive qualities of painting. These images reject precise representation, exploring ambiguity and transformation while inviting viewers to interpret their shifting, hybrid forms.

Series

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Exhibitions

Art Prolongs Life – Prescriptions from the HUS Art Collection, 16.11.2024 – 5.1.2025, Kunsthalle Helsinki
Art Center Purnu, Purnu FI (2024)
OTOS 2-5 November 2023, Cable Factory (Helsinki)
Galleria Heino 2.9.2023 – 24.9.2023

Wrapped Wonders