Brazilian artist who embraces AI images opens first solo exhibition in Seoul

Patrícia Abbott stands in the Brazil Hall which is currently showing her "Beyond Recollection" exhibition. Courtesy of Augustine Paredes

Brazilian multidisciplinary artist Patrícia Abbott opened her first solo exhibition, "Beyond Recollection," at the Embassy of Brazil in Seoul, Sept. 3.

Her work examines the tensions between the immediate digital and the reflective analog, exploring issues on how we interact with images. For this exhibition, her AI-generated images combined with oil paintings as well as floor installations are on display at Brazil Hall. Two of the pieces were brought from Brazil, and the rest were done in Korea.

Born in the Brazilian capital of Brasília, and working with AI since 2021, Abbott has been immersed in seeking to relate different mediums as a way to raise questions about the different times within each language and their processes to explore fields that arise from the blurring of their boundaries.

The exhibition presents her contemplations on the feedback nature of the interaction between humans and AI. Just as AI feeds on what we produce to constitute itself, we are increasingly defining ourselves through it, profoundly altering our own perceptions. Through this set of works, she explores the nature of this mutual involvement, using the themes of memory and perception to incite the general public to reflect on how these technological interactions fundamentally reshape our existential experience.

Patrícia Abbott's painting "Collapsing Waves" on display in Brazil Hall for her "Beyond Recollection" solo exhibition / Courtesy of Augustine Paredes

“In this series of oil paintings, my work seeks to relate oil painting and generative images as a way to delve into the construction of meaning," she said in an introduction to the exhibition. "Through algorithmic mismatches, I foster the creation of unexpected relationships that result in images evoking sensations of memories and an awakening of the senses. The choice of images and the technique of oil painting, deliberately slowed down in contrast to the almost instant generation of generative images, creates a tension between the temporalities of the images.”

When asked about her embracing the creative involvement with AI-generated images, she said that while we tend to draw a line between the virtual and the real, the virtual is becoming more and more real every day.

"There is this impulse to just generate so many images and just go to the next one, instead of staying and seeing the questions that arise with this new, emerging technology," she told The Korea Times. "When you generate images with AI, you can generate thousands of images. There is this speed with generative images. But the slowness that the oil painting itself, the oil itself demands."

Through her work, she experiments with slowing this process down. By taking the time to work with oil painting, she extends her time spent with each AI-generated image.

“Oil painting brings so many unique questions and unique properties," she said. "It is also organic —there are organic elements that mix with synthetic elements from the AI. And in this combination, there are just dynamics that are unique. There is a shift in meaning with these images. At the same time that I am trying to open new spaces in the AI, this can also let new spaces arise in my creative process.”

Patrícia Abbott's painting "Another Moon" on display in Brazil Hall for her "Beyond Recollection" solo exhibition / Courtesy of Augustine Paredes

In her year and a half living in Korea, she has also been working with various other mediums, including printmaking, photography and drawing, with all the mediums she uses in a dialogue with each other.

Growing concerns about the usage of AI in various fields are hotly debated these days. When it comes to creative applications, important questions arise: who is the creator, and who can claim originality and copyright? She pointed out that AI can’t create images by itself.

“We are tempted to say AI is just a tool," she said. "But there is a very different aspect to it because it can also make decisions. I'm also thinking, how can something new be created? And not just find a way to replicate things. Because I think that is a very complicated area — there needs to be a discussion also. While in painting, through the process, something that is incredible is that you are always discovering things. With AI also, if you give it a certain formula it can go into an aesthetic. But you can try to run away from that in different ways. I think that's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to find little gaps.”

A poster for Patricia Abbott's solo exhibition, "Beyond Recollection" / Courtesy of Embassy of Brazil in Seoul

The exhibition is at the embassy's Brazil Hall until Oct. 31. Visitors are welcome on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visit pabbott.art for more information.

Bereket Alemayehu is an Ethiopian photo artist, social activist and writer based in Seoul. He's also the co-founder of Hanokers, a refugee-led social initiative and freelance contributor for Pressenza Press Agency.