In Conversations
It's the quietest corners of existence and repression, the echoes of what's left unsaid. That's where my inspiration thrives.
Alice Gordon
Plutonium F. speaks to Alice Gordon
Plutonium Fitzgerald: Can you tell us about your background and how you got started in creating art?
Alice Gordon I’m currently studying in the faculty of fine arts, and I don’t have any practical background other than doodling in my notebook in school. I started creating art on impulse. I was following artists like Claire Silver and Vikki Bardot in the space, and the things that I learned from their feeds gave me the courage to try. I've tried a couple of text-to-image tools and instantly fell in love with the technology. I realized that I can find my own peculiar voice.
I've shown my first outputs to friends and received extremely positive feedback. People say I have a very distinctive, idiosyncratic style, and this encourages me a lot.
I have a passion for the surrealist movement, and the more I dig into the history of surrealism, the more I want to create art.
PLUTONIUM F.: What got you interested in creating art with AI tools? How has AI evolved your artistic process?
GORDON: The possibility of eliminating overthinking. That's the magic for me. I am extremely shy, and I normally overthink so much that I can barely finish a painting over a hundred days. With AI tools, I can produce hundreds of works in a day. I found myself interpreting and expressing emotions in ways that I didn't know were possible. AI provides a new lens, enabling me to distill the tension, paradox, and absurdity into my art.
I've tried a couple of text-to-image tools and instantly fell in love with the technology. I realized that I can find my own peculiar voice.
Alice Gordon
PLUTONIUM F.: What inspires you as an artist?
GORDON: My anxieties. The spaces between thoughts. The mundanity of life. The tension between solitude and companionship. The tension between introversion and extroversion. It's the quietest corners of existence and repression, the echoes of what's left unsaid. That's where my inspiration thrives.
PLUTONIUM F.: You are a part of a group show titled "Post Photographic Perspectives II — Acceptable Realities." Can you discuss how your work fits into this collection?
GORDON: It is a group of extremely talented artists, and I'm honored to be here. With my distinctive visual style and peculiar theme, I fit like an unexpected jigsaw piece. I consider this group show as a quest for meta-reality, and I think that my work unlocks an idiosyncratic door in this quest.
PLUTONIUM F.: Tell us more about the project. How did you come up with the name and your creative process for this project?
GORDON: "Cognitive Behavioral Post-Photography" is a glimpse into my perception of humanity's psychological state. The name is also a reference to my therapy sessions.
My creative process is a mélange of experimentation and spontaneity. I start with a textual concept or emotion, convert it into an absurd visual narrative, and repeat until the narrative reveals an unexpected facet of the human psyche.
The classical and the modern art have both lost their ability to reflect the psychology of new generations. The anxieties, the insecurities, the fluctuating tension behind the scenes, the alienation, the mental jadedness... We need a new grammar in art for these. I aim to find a new visual strategy and vocabulary for these tensions. To reflect the psyche of the new generation. I believe the key lies behind the absurd stillness, and that's why I call my style "absurdist surreal lonerism."
PLUTONIUM F.: What are your thoughts on the intersection of photography and AI technology??
GORDON:Photography traps reality in a frame, while AI unhinges that frame and lets reality spill over into realms of the unforeseen, repressed, and bizarre. The thin line that they form together has a huge potential, in my humble opinion.
I have a passion for the surrealist movement, and the more I dig into the history of surrealism, the more I want to create art.
Alice Gordon
PLUTONIUM F.: Anything you would like to share with people skeptical about AI tools for creativity?
GORDON: Be open-minded and start experimenting! Don't fall behind!
People see AI as a mechanical, soulless automaton. But it is rather a curious alien swimming in our consciousness.
It’s very difficult to reach a conclusion with skeptics in an AI debate, as they see AI as a machine that helps to cheat. However, we have to find ways to explain the potential of AI that helps us all find new ways of creativity. I have no doubt that AI will bring a new kind of art renaissance.
PLUTONIUM F.: Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. What is the best way for people to follow you and learn more about you and your work?
GORDON: Twitter is the best place to follow me.