Silvia Badalotti
Digital Artist Silvia Badalotti
Says Digital Artist Silvia Badalotti. Her name made waves earlier this year when she created the Spring Summer 2024 campaign for Etro with the aid of Artificial Intelligence.
Artificial Intelligence
Etro Campaign Woman by AI Artist Silvia Badalotti Digital Artist
To bring this vision to life, Badalotti created seventeen images using AI and then photographed real models dressed in Etro's Spring Summer 2024 collection. She recalls the team was on set for days. To achieve the final result, she replaced the AI-generated bodies with those of the models wearing the Etro looks in post-production.
Digital Artist Silvia Badalotti.
For Badalotti, the fusion of human creativity and AI is a natural progression of her artistic journey. Since childhood, the Milan-born artist was surrounded by tempera paints and brushes, as well as brocade fabrics and embroidered silks she saw in her parents' studio. "When I write my AI prompts, I always reference the history of art and the Italian Renaissance, my favourite historical period," she says.
Like many photographers, she began her career in analogue photography during the 1990s. She recalls using an optical bench with large-format film cameras to capture carefully controlled photographs. Eventually, she switched to digital tools to better express her creativity. Three years ago, she started experimenting with artificial intelligence in her work.
As she began to explore AI, instead of letting her work in fashion photography guide her digital art, Silvia adapted the AI to suit her unique vision and style. "The use of these applications tends to standardise the images with a single style, and being able to move away from that is very difficult; it takes a long time to get what you have in mind."
Silvia employs two distinct creative processes, depending on whether the work is commissioned or a product of personal exploration. In her commissioned projects, she often collaborates closely with the brand's creative director. For instance, she recalls her work for Etro's Marco de Vicenzo,"I had a wonderful exchange, he allowed me to get inside his head and find out what inspired him to design the new collection.
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She recounts that his words guided the prompts she used to generate images for the Spring Summer 2024 campaign. She produced multiple photoshoots to capture the collection's pieces, with a team on set for days, followed by extensive post-production to integrate photographed garments with AI-created backgrounds.
When the work isn't commissioned, Silvia lets her imagination take the reins. She draws inspiration from anything, whether a book or an exhibition. "My eyes are always at work, even when they're closed!"
In many creative fields, including technology, there is a well-known gender imbalance that favours men, often overshadowing the representation of women.
This
is especially true in digital art and AI, where female artists
are still carving
out their rightful space.
Badalotti believes that the representation of female artists in digital art and AI is still evolving. Despite the presence of influential voices, she emphasises that "there is still much work to be done to ensure fair and inclusive representation." Nonetheless, she acknowledges that awareness and efforts to promote diversity are steadily growing.
She observes that even though new technologies often seem to be "a man's affair," promoting gender equity, supporting women's education and training, and ensuring fair economic recognition are key to moving the needle forward. She cites the recent Venice Art Biennale as a shining example where Curator Cecilia Alemani brought together 191 female authors showcasing 1,433 works from around the world. "In my opinion, the most beautiful edition!"
Badalotti continues to pave the way for female artists in the magical intersection of art and technology, showcasing the powerful synergy between human vision and AI. She is neither "afraid" of AI taking our jobs nor believes AI will completely replace human artists. "Artists often use AI as a collaborative tool to explore new forms of artistic expression, blending their ideas and visions with the output generated by the algorithm." For Badalotti, there's no competition between humans and machines. Quite the opposite, she believes "AI-based artworks result from a collaboration between artists and technology."
