Artist Highlight: Cynthia Cruz
Cynthia Cruz in her Bakehouse artist studio. Photo: Pedro Wazzan.
Drawing from her experience as an artist of Dominican descent and fascination with technology, Cynthia Cruz creates fictional environments and characters using patterns and imagery influenced by animism, folklore, and science fiction.
Since 2020, Cynthia has collaborated with two Artificial Intelligence engines: Philosopher AI, a GPT-3 language model that answers questions; and Starry AI, a prompt-based image generator. Following interactions between the algorithms, Cynthia creates digital collages and soundscapes, which will be shown in 2023. Cynthia will participate in this year’s UNTITLED Art Fair, Miami, with both [NAME] Publications and VORTIC x NEST, as well as Campo Garzon Art Fair curated by Natalia Zuluaga, Patricia Margarita Hernandez, and Roxana Fabius. Cynthia will co-curate a group show with Jaqueline Cedar of the Good Naked Gallery, New York, in 2023.
Cynthia has presented work in solo and two-person exhibitions at Thames-Side Studios Gallery, 2019, London; and ACME Project Space, 2014. She has participated in multiple group shows and art fairs both regionally and internationally, including Elephant Studios and the Scalpel Building, both 2019, London; David Castillo Gallery, 2018, Art Basel Miami Beach; Fredric Snitzer Gallery, 2018, Miami, FL; ASC Gallery, 2017, London; Bass Museum of Art, 2015, Miami Beach; and Bas Fisher Invitational, 2011, Miami; among others. In addition to her artist practice, Cynthia is a curator and educator who has worked with ASC Gallery (2017) and Whitechapel Gallery (2016). She is a recipient of the ACME/Goldsmiths MFA Studio Award, 2014, London, and was shortlisted for the Griffin Art Prize in 2016. In 2021, Cynthia was selected to participate in the Bakehouse Art Complex Summer Open Residency, where she continues her work with AI and machine learning at the intersection of painting and sculpture.
Can you tell us about your artistic practice?
I am a multidisciplinary artist working primarily in painting and digital media. My paintings are fictional worlds which are created intuitively while my digital work is more of a methodical process. My work is influenced by science fiction, animism, folklore and the uncanny.
I’m currently interested in the visual language in retro science fiction films and shows used to depict the future, as well as the use of animism as a recurring theme in science fiction.
Tell us about a personal artistic project or body of work that you are currently excited about.
I’m currently working on an ongoing collaboration between myself and two Artificial Intelligence models: Philosopher AI, a GPT-3 language model that answers questions; and Starry AI, a prompt-based image generator. I started this project 2–3 years ago during COVID-19; I wanted to see if a non-human (AI) could give us a better understanding of our existence, why we’re here, and what our purpose is, among other questions. My friend Dino mentioned Philosopher AI, and later we spent the evening asking it existential questions and comparing notes.
I used the text from Philosopher AI to input it into another AI, Starry AI, that generates images. I used the images generated from the text to create digital collages and GIFS. You can see the project on my site here. I also have a dedicated Instagram page for the text, collages and GIFS. Each post has 3 slides, the first slide is the GIF, the second slide is the collage and the 3rd slide is the text.
Tell us about how you have developed as an artist since you began working at Bakehouse.
After I was accepted into the summer open program at Bakehouse, I was offered a permanent studio and a job as the office manager. Bakehouse opened its doors to me by giving me a studio to work in which allowed me to have studio visits, resulting in various opportunities. This year I will be showing at UNTITLED Art Fair with [NAME] Publications and Campo Artfest 2022 curated by Roxana Fabius, Patricia M. Hernandez, and Natalia Zuluaga (who is also the co-director of [NAME] publications along with Gean Moreno who is the curator of programs at the ICA Miami).
Bakehouse is an artist community where we can share ideas and problem solve. I feel very grateful to be part of the Bakehouse community. I have made friendships here that I will cherish forever.