James Lawton is one of ArtConnect’s Artists to Watch '22

James Lawton is an artist working with machine learning to create unique images and texts that illustrate how we create our digital selves, how others are able to use our data to create a form of us, as well as the veracity and distortion of those creations. He uses datasets that he has created, including self-portraits, journals, fiction, recordings, and other methods. These works address issues of identity, consciousness, self, and perception. A self-portrait method is often used to provide unrestricted, accessible, and emotionally vulnerable data based on a real person. With himself as the primary subject, he then uses that definitive data to create machine learning models whose output portrays a broad and equivocal interpretation of a person, which in turn calls into question how we create and are created by interpretations of data.

ArtConnect asked the winning artists to share with us a glimpse into their creative life to get a sense of their personal inspiration and artistic process.

How did you get started as an artist?

I went to arts-focused schools when I was younger. I eventually went to university to study graphic design and illustration. That quickly turned into digital design work. After years in the corporate world in a couple of countries I decided I really wanted to do something other than website and interface edits. I really wanted to do something more with my creativity. I started off with photography, since I had been doing it regularly, and though I received some recognition, it was clear my fine art and technical skills were in two different worlds. In 2019 I returned to school to study computational arts at Goldsmiths University in London, bringing the two skills together.

How would you describe your artistic approach?

Experimenting and learning might be good words to describe my approach. My work has changed through the years and become varied, so I'm not sure there's a clear approach since that experimenting and learning has become inherent in what I do. With the machine learning work I'm doing I first create datasets, usually of images or text but sometimes audio also, I then curate the datasets, train machine learning models, generate output, and then curate the results of that. There is a lot that goes wrong and doesn't work, and sometimes I have to spend time learning what I did wrong or how to even accomplish what I want to achieve. Patience and revision are a big part of it, so that really goes back to experimenting and learning all over again.

And how about what inspires you?

If we're talking about creatives and things that are happening now, I really admire people like Dr Joy Buolamwini. That she found problems regarding gender and racial bias with facial recognition while working on her own art projects, and didn't just identify the issues, but wrote her dissertation on those problems and how companies could solve them is just deeply impressive. Many of the companies even responded with changes. Then, on top of that, she made more creative pieces based on this research, like the spoken word piece "AI, Ain't I Woman". If you haven't seen it, you should watch it. Her work is intelligent, relevant, powerful, and effective. If I'm going to mix art and technology, I aspire to that kind of impact.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced as an artist?

Learning what I do that is true and unique while also trying to follow that impulse and nurture it well. Secondary careers, delays, unexepcted events, those who discourage, those who leave, and those who hurt always make that path dense and muddy. I hope I continue to grow.

Describe a typical day in the studio/wherever you make your work.

Because of the nature of the work there is no real typical day. The most common may simply be sitting at my computer and working through either code or curating datasets. There's a necessity to sit and do that for hours on end. The photos, drawings, and writings can be done anywhere, from a studio, to my bedroom, to outside. The most joyful are the days outside with my camera and sketch book. There are other things also, but these may be the most significant.

Is there a medium, a process, or a technique that you haven't used in your work yet but would like to try out?

I have a growing interest in physical works, with a presence. I'm also finding myself more drawn to things like video and audio/music, which weren't my focus at all before. For a long time I simply wanted to combine my technical expertise with my creative background, which I have now done and I'm working hard to push that forward. I think I can do good things, and hopefully even better things soon.

What are you currently working on? Or an upcoming project you want to mention?

Honestly, I'm working on building the business side of this right now. I'm trying to educate myself and make this a real, viable thing. A lot of that is business understanding. Artistically though, it's twofold: getting out the artwork I've done and understanding where I sit with that so I bring in more work. After that it's building my skills while I work on new things so I am growing and improving with a purpose. Wish me luck.

How does it feel to be selected as an ArtConnect Artist to Watch?

It feels great. I'm very thankful and based on what I wrote above, it's a very welcome opportunity at this time. Thank you.

See more of James Lawton’s work

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