The New Electricity

Matt and I are doing something we’ve never done before. A joint painting project — two paintings, one idea.

The idea: AI is the new electricity.

He paints his interpretation. I paint mine. Same slogan, two different minds, two different hands.

Think about it. When electricity arrived, it didn’t ask anyone’s permission. It just rewired everything — how we live, how we work, how we see the world at night. People were scared of it. People said it would ruin things. Then one day the lights came on and nobody wanted to go back to candles.

Think about it. When electricity arrived, it didn’t ask anyone’s permission. It just rewired everything — how we live, how we work, how we see the world at night. AI is doing the same thing to art right now. Some people are scared of it. Some people are pretending it isn’t happening. Meanwhile the rest of us are already living in the glow of it.

I want to be clear about where I stand, because people make assumptions. I paint by hand — every petal, every layer, every texture. I also work with AI in my concept fashion. Those two facts live in the same studio and they get along fine. The digital tools are part of my process; they don’t replace the hands. Anyone who tells you it’s one or the other is selling something.

“AI is the new electricity.”

That’s the name of the project. That’s the slogan. That’s the whole thing.

Matt’s been in my corner since our dual show at Show Gallery. He called me his inspiration once, in print, where everyone could read it. Now we get to put our work side by side and let the paintings argue it out.

More soon. The brushes are already moving.

— Kellyann