Interpreting the Allegorical: How GenAI Sees My Art

Left: Midjourney; Right: Nettrice Gaskins’ “Red Shoes” oil painting, circa 1992.

Allegory in art is when the subject of the artwork, or the various elements that form the composition, is used to symbolize a deeper persona, moral, or spiritual message. Throughout the early 1990s, the majority of the paintings I created were considered to be allegorical or symbolic by my professors (especially Mary Buckley). Symbolism — another concept I explored as a student — emphasizes the expression of an idea over the realistic description of the natural world. Artists like Louise Bourgeois did something similar with sculpture.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder. “Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap,” circa 1565.

Nettrice Gaskins, “Kick-Ball” circa 1992.

What strikes me now about those early (student) oil paintings is the softness and the energy of my brush strokes. I was not concerned with facial expressions or realism, just in the suggestion of human bodies in repose or in motion. Bodies in urban spaces. This year, I used “Kick-Ball” (above) as an image prompt with some booster (enhancer) words and got this result, among others:

“Kick-Ball” reinterpreted using Midjourney

I iterated on the results from “Red Shoes” and got the following result (see below). Midjourney, a popular AI generator, kept certain aspects of the original work such as the color palette and even the application of paint. Most important, there is still a sense of the intended pose (ex. relaxed, tranquil). The different now is I can generated several versions and choose the ones that more closely fit with the original works.

Another iteration/variation of “Red Shoes”

The subjects in my early works were mostly women and children. I recall thinking a lot about domestic work and play, perhaps contrasting the two ideas. At the time I was somewhere between childhood and adulthood. I was between being a girl and becoming a woman.

Midjourney’s interpretation (and my re-interpretation) of another one of my 90s paintings

Slide from my GenAI tutorial

In some ways, working with GenAI tools such as Midjourney is a collaborative experience. I use my paintings as prompts to guide the AI-generation process but I also add specific words to get different results. I’m not trying to recreate the style or even the composition of the early paintings. I’m exploring the ideas behind them, using new tools.

Recently, I created/shared a tutorial for a teacher looking to explore generative AI art with her students. You can find the slides HERE.