Melissa Wiederrecht

United States of America

Melissa Wiederrecht is an American algorithmic generative artist who has lived and worked in Makkah, Saudi Arabia for the past decade. Trained in computer science, machine learning, and AI, she has been making generative art for over twenty years, since long before it had a name or an audience, and now exhibits internationally. She calls her work a "precise blur." Precise, because it is built entirely from mathematical code systems she writes herself. Blur, because what those systems produce is paradox, ambiguity, and in-betweenness. She works in the oscillation, the both/and: art that is extremely intentional yet overflowing with randomness, cold and mathematical yet emotionally moving, obviously a painting and obviously not, a single frozen frame and an infinite algorithm at once. Running through all of it is a bringing-together of traditional values and ancient forms with the most modern of media, code. 



Melissa Wiederrecht has exhibited at the United Nations Headquarters, the Museum of the Moving Image, Gucci Art Space, Gazelli Art House, Art Dubai Digital, Art Blocks, and Feral File, among many others. Her work has also been showcased at prominent international venues and platforms, including HeK Basel, Unit London, GalerieData in Paris, Verse, VerticalCrypto Art (Berlin), and ArtRepublic Global during Miami Art Basel. Reflecting her impact on the digital art community, she was nominated for the Diversity Award at The Crypties by Decrypt Media in 2023.


Melissa Wiederrecht.jpg

Cosmic Vortex Patina

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Cosmic Vortex is the animated evolution of Cosmic Rays, the algorithm I consider my masterpiece so far. Cosmic Rays began as a study of painting itself: I took the composition rules I had been learning from a book on the craft and tried to express them in code, parameterized, and iterated for months, adding and removing, to see what the equations would grow into. One day I accidentally overlaid the whole composition on top of itself in overlay blend mode, and the entire thing burst into color. When I posted the results, people independently kept reaching for the same words: power, scale, a thousand auroras exploding, the look of deep space. That is where the name came from. I want to be clear that it is not mysticism or new-age symbolism; it is scientific awe, the real scale and power of the universe, the cosmic microwave background, the feeling of looking at some unknown corner of space as it is still forming.

Cosmic Vortex takes the same code and sets it in motion, so the brushstrokes themselves move: a painting that is genuinely alive, which is something you can do with code and never with paint on a wall. So much of this work, for me, is the craft of it, whether I can actually pull it off in code, bringing the craft of painting and the craft of code together, generalizing it into an algorithm, and above all making something utterly gorgeous. Every iteration carries its own mood, wildly varied, and yet they all still hold together as compositions, as paintings.

Shown in Liminal Space, Unit London Web3 (their inaugural online showcase), February to March 2023, a two-artist exhibition with Linda Dounia. The artist's statement at the time: "In a random corner of the early universe, something is forming. Randomness and intention have come together in unknown proportions. Particles collide: the force is immeasurable; chaos and order battle it out. Meanwhile, the view is incredible."

technique

generative art

format

portrait

duration

01:40

year

2023

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More from Melissa Wiederrecht

More on digital art

Generative art
Generative art refers to a way of creating artworks using an autonomous system. In digital art, these are usually generated from code and algorithms created by the artist, often with certain predefined parameters or systems. Although these parameters guide the final outcome of the work, generative art is generally a surprising way to create artworks, as the results are often unexpected and the number of possible outcomes can be infinite.
AI
AI art is a branch of generative art that uses artificial intelligence. Unlike other generative artworks, AI artworks use specific complex algorithms and models derived from machine learning. The most common methods for creating AI art today are GANs (generative adversarial networks) or proprietary prompting platforms such as ChatGPT, Sora, Midjourney, or Dall-e.
3D
3D art uses 3D software such as Blender, Cinema4D, Houdini, or video game software such as Unity to create works of art. In 3D works, artists can either arrange assets (the 'objects' in a 3D artwork or world) that they have created themselves or purchased from other creators to create elaborate environments and scenes (an approach to 3D art called 'set dressing'), or specialize in sculpting, which involves creating their own objects and assets.
Photogrammetry
Photogrammetry is a specialized 3D technique that allows 3D objects to be created from numerous photographs taken of an object or scene from multiple angles. These photos are then compiled to determine the specific positioning, shape, and dimensions of the object in space, and then converted into a 3D model. Initially developed for engineering and urban planning, photogrammetry has become a way for artists to produce extremely accurate 3D models from real-life images.
Collage
An extension of the traditional, plastic approach to collage, digital collage involves searching for and cutting out multiple images, extracting them from their original context, and recomposing them in a new arrangement to create a work of art. Artists can use their own photographs or find images on the internet.
Illustration
Digital illustrations are created using software such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or Procreate. As with drawing on paper, the artist uses a stylus to sketch a figure or object, usually on a tablet, to construct a scene or artistic universe. Unlike traditional drawing methods, digital illustration is much more forgiving, as mistakes can be easily corrected and drawn elements and objects can be easily moved around within a scene.
Video
Video artworks primarily use a recording camera, but may sometimes include additional post-processing or editing to distort, modify or add additional elements to the image. Some artists use state-of-the-art recording equipment to create macro zoom-ins or time lapses, privileging fidelity to the subject matter. Others use additional softwares to significantly modify or warp the video, creating an alternative perspective on the world that surrounds us.

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