AI MADLIBS:

Imagined & Designed by a Computer; Hand-Crafted by a Human.

My work explores the intersection of artificial intelligence and human craftsmanship. It starts with a prompt; an idea and an image. But rather than allowing the machine to produce a reproducible print, I take its digital designs as a base and handcraft them into something unique and tangible. With patience and precision, every line is artfully redesigned and meticulously cut by hand from a single piece of paper with a scalpel. Instead of the human drawing one picture and the computer printing out infinite copies, the computer designs infinite possible images, and the human cuts out one unique piece of paper. The result is a delicate handcrafted artwork that reflects both the collective influence and experience of all artists, and AI’s unpredictable choices, sparking curiosity and laughter at the inevitable quirks while embracing imperfection.

“Dear ChatGPT: give me a random animal doing something with an object in a place.”

“Dear Image Creator, give me an image of a penguin, dancing with a teapot, in Paris.”

Why did AI decide that the penguin should wear a scarf? No real penguin does this. Did it fear the penguin would be cold… in Paris? Why are there TWO Eiffel Towers in the background? Somehow in its vast knowledge did it not realize there exists only one?

Each AI MADLIBS piece is filled with curious ‘errors’ which become the driving force of my work. Why does the pelican’s clock show eight o’clock twice? Why does the octopus need a rowboat to hoard his clocks, can he not swim? Why is the alligator wearing a tuxedo? Why in the world is the fish smoking a cigarette? These oddities spark our imagination, helping us create our own stories. I’m not interested in correcting these mistakes, instead I embrace them as windows into deeper questions. There’s no right answer, but by pondering the "Why?” these quirks and imperfections invite us to reflect on our own biases, influences, and limitations.

The space between black and white is colored with shadows. They flicker and change. That’s where you’ll find ART.

The duality of my approach is reflected in the contrasting presentation of the final pieces. The black versions of my papercuts are sleek and polished, framed in natural wood to symbolize a controlled, altered nature. These are the ‘finished’ works- refined, but still bearing the imprint of human hands. Shadows dance on the textured off-white mulberry paper, offering just a hint to the layers with a thin glowing eclipse.

The white versions- the ‘work in progress’- feature a collage of text, including book pages, food wrappers, and maps, layered beneath the cut paper. This textured backdrop is a tangible reminder of the human world that feeds AI’s algorithmic creations. It represents the fragmented, sometimes chaotic nature of our lived experience, filtered through the digital realm. Written by humans but printed by machine, it expresses a collage of information, opinions, and countless lifetimes of imagination. The frame’s inner edges are lined with blue painter’s tape and silver duct tape, representing the preservation of the real physical world that lies between printed text and digital art. We can literally see through the AI-imagined art to the human influence behind it… because without the element of real experience, artificial intelligence would have nothing to draw from.

Blue-Taped Prints in Unexpected Places..

In addition to these hand-cut pieces, I offer a limited series of Mini Blue-Taped Prints. These 5x5 inch prints- framed with blue painter’s tape- are intentionally placed for free in unconventional spaces: maybe a nightclub bathroom, a grocery store aisle, or even a twisted tree. The prints are scattered in unexpected locations as a way of reminding viewers that art, like human creativity itself, doesn’t exist in isolation and spontaneously appear from the tidy white walls of a gallery or a screen. It’s born from the messy, chaotic experience of real life… and that’s exactly where you’ll find these free mini prints.