Artist Statement

I create hybrid photographs, images, and animations in order to capture the relationships created by combining century old techniques like large format film photography with the bleeding edge of creative technology, like artificial intelligence (AI). Some of the photos started as portraits, some started as landscapes, pretty much all of them began as conventional subjects found in photography throughout history. However, these conventions and norms of today were once wildly controversial in the art world, and now graffiti and artificial intelligence have taken up the role of breaking the norms of accepted art.

People don’t react to change and technological progress very well. Throughout recorded history, just about every major innovation and invention has faced backlash over its perceived “destruction of society.” From the internet to horseless carriages to the printing press, someone out there is going to look at that and be freaked out because it’s new and different. Sometimes they’re valid! The internet and nukes definitely warrant some concern! Other times, we look back and laugh at how ridiculous our ancestors were for “not getting it.” Nowadays we face another “world ending” invention: digital art and artificial intelligence. While both of those can genuinely end the world in other ways (deep fakes pretending to be politicians to spread false information is all too real already), the primary concern, that their existence devalues older artforms and makes creating art with them too easy and accessible, is the same fear that people have felt throughout history. Through these multi-media works I try to show the intersection of old and new technology and how they coexist together to create new possibilities.

Greyson Pearce

About the Artist

Greyson Pearce is a photographer and mixed media artist currently based in Baltimore, Maryland. In his photography work Greyson works with a variety of mediums and techniques, with an emphasis on exploration of photographic technology. He combines 1850s processes like wet-plate collodion tin and ambrotypes with modern digital photography and digital photographic manipulation. In his mixed media work, he works with everything from digital generative art tools to artificial intelligence to spray paint. Greyson draws inspiration from artists such as Ansel Adams, Gregory Crewdson, William Eggleston, 100 gecs, John Coffer, and Bruce Gilden among many others.