Artist Statement

 In a world where human intimacy is increasingly mediated by screens and algorithms, my work explores the fragmentation of desire and connection through the lens of digital distortion. By abstracting freeze-frame moments of adult entertainment and infusing them with glitch aesthetics, I challenge viewers to confront the tension between sensuality and alienation, connection and detachment.

The glitch serves as a powerful metaphor for our modern experience of intimacy. It represents the fragmented and artificial nature of digital interactions, where what we see is a distortion—a filtered, curated, and commodified version of reality. Just as glitches obscure the original image, our mediated connections obscure the truth of human intimacy, leaving us grasping for something real in a sea of pixels and performances.

In these paintings, the distortion is both visual and conceptual, revealing the fragile line between voyeurism and genuine connection. The freeze-framed scenes, already a performance of intimacy, are further corrupted through abstraction. Bodies fragment into pixels, forms blur into static, and the human essence is lost in the chaos—mirroring how digital culture dehumanizes and objectifies, reducing intimacy to a spectacle for consumption.

Yet, through oil paint—a medium steeped in physicality and tradition—I reclaim a sense of humanity within this fractured digital world. The textures, imperfections, and layers of paint stand in contrast to the cold sterility of screens, grounding the work in the tactile and the real. This juxtaposition invites viewers to reflect on the dissonance between the warmth of human connection and the detachment of technology.

Ultimately, my work is about more than glitches or adult entertainment. It is a critique of the way we navigate desire, vulnerability, and connection in the digital age. It asks: What remains of intimacy when it is filtered through algorithms? How does distortion reveal, rather than obscure, the artificiality of our experiences? And, most importantly, can we still find humanity in a world increasingly shaped by screens?

These paintings are fragments of a conversation about who we are, what we long for, and what we lose in the pursuit of connection through the digital lens. They are an invitation to pause, confront, and question the reality—or unreality—of our most intimate moments. -Micah Kavros