This project began with a survey. I asked participants to describe themselves including their name, origin, rock type, composition, texture, accessory features, and colors. Then, to draw themselves as that rock.
Respondents' ages ranged from 10 to 75-years-old, with a media age range of 18 to 34. About half had some formal education in geology. Once I gathered all of the survey responses, I combined the drawings, written descriptions, and photos of similar rocks into an prompt-based artificial intelligence image generator. I utilized Midjourney as a tool to produce reference images that I could sculpt from. More specifically, Midjouney’s (version 4) ‘combine images’ feature to generate photo-realistic renderings of the drawings.
Working from the original sketches and generated images, I sculpted the participants' self-portraits. The connection of the anthropomorphised clay bodies to the natural world is one that I connect to this series of sculptures. In thinking about ourselves (seriously or not) in relation to what makes up the earth, what we are composed of, how we formed and why–we are all, to quote Carl Sagan, “made of star stuff” or similarly ‘earth stuff.’
The entire rock collection can be viewed online in a searchable database. You can find yours at the link below if you've completed a survey.
This is an ongoing project. If you'd like to participate, please contact me to receive a form or to complete your survey at a participating location!
