Who is “She?” Perhaps a goddess? and a “Planetary Sister” my most recent series. Using self portrait and word prompts, describing my aspirational and earthbound self, I expand my nine year project “Portrait of a Woman.” With my face as primary art tool, I transform my likeness into celestial creatures. The sisters occupy a cosmic realm, melding my aging human face and the female entities born with AI. Each sister transforms my human essence into a cosmic personae.
About the film
Who is “She?” Perhaps a goddess? Watching the compelling visual story move on the screen, these might be viewer questions. We are captivated seeing a colorful, changing, melded flow of images with AI blended figures and cosmic atmosphere scenes accompanied by expansive audio.
Susan Detroy created an ethereal film with a composited AI personae. “She” is born from a sister family of transformed figures blending human and celestial. “She” occupies the film as main character, overseeing a flowing world mixed with a fanciful, airy cosmos. “She” is celestial guardian floating in glowing stars, planets and butterflies.
“She” is one of the “Planetary Sisters” films, Ms.Detroy’s most recent video series. With these sisters, Susan expands her nine year “Portrait of a Woman” project. Since 2015 Ms. Detroy has been using her own face as a primary art tool. Now Susan expanded into AI, transforming her own likeness into blended celestial creatures, occupying a heavenly realm. “She” is one of several sisters residing in a non-earthly, fluid space. The sisters are melded figures using Susan’s aging human face and the AI prompted female entities. Ms. Detroy gathers and blends, enlisting her long-time generated self portrait images and word prompts. The prompts describe desired traits, aspirational ideas, plant life forms and planetary fantasies. The promoted creatures are mixtures of heavenly and fantastical selves. Each sister is a cosmic personae who is a combination of human/Susan and AI characteristics. “She” is one of the sisters who live in our film universe.
About the author
Susan Detroy
Susan Detroy is a visual storyteller producing art in ten series, including alternative and digital photography, transfer prints, paintings, and video. Susan developed her visual language in childhood avidly viewing magazine photographs and movies which continue to influence her creations.
Ms. Detroy worked as an analogue print and portrait photographer from the early 80’s into the late 90’s. While forging careers in art curation and gallery management, Susan developed unique transfer print artworks using alternative photo techniques. While exhibiting in the US and Europe Ms. Detroy mastered digital camera-phone and iPad, enhancing her moving and still imagery. In 2015 responding to internalized messages about aging, Susan initiated her “Portrait of a Woman” self portrait project. During the pandemic without the possibility of showing analogue art, Susan amplified her skills in digital media, building the 40-minute commissioned documentary “In The Now” and laid the ground work for several of the “The Corona Diaries,” meditative films about biking and florals. Having used biking as a coping tool during lockdown Susan often using joyful cycling as one of her themes.
Embracing AI, Ms. Detroy expanded her self portrait project with “Planetary Sisters” which utilize Susan’s face and aging AI women and are now emerging as part of her deep artist production. The “Sisters” are shown as moving images and films.
Ms. Detroy combines her life experience with natural and cosmic elements leading viewers on intriguing visual journeys. Susan brings a feminist, woman-affirming perspective to her inventive and intriguing artworks portraying earth and self love.
Featured at festival
MINA International Mobile Innovation Screening
24/11/2023
Australia