Daniel Ambrosi

“Daniel Ambrosi is a groundbreaking visionary artist straddling the worlds of fine art, science, and nature. At once these singular works are both hyperrealism and surrealism. Ambrosi wields a supercomputer as his brush, conjuring images of remarkable beauty and clarity. He has harnessed state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and applied it to nature, producing these amazing “Dreamscapes” that are visually stunning, gorgeously composed, and which reveal a magic and mystery that is exhilarating.” -Paul Fisher

Daniel Ambrosi is based in Half Moon Bay, California. Daniel has been exploring novel methods of visual presentation since graduating from Cornell University in 1984 with degrees in architecture and computer graphics (Cornell National Scholar & Eschweiler Prize Recipient). He began his career with NBBJ, one of the largest architectural design firms in the world, where he introduced the use of 3D graphics for design visualization in the mid-80s. In the mid-90s, Daniel’s career transitioned to tech marketing beginning with a tenure at 3D workstation manufacturer, Silicon Graphics. He has been an independent marketing consultant since 2003 while continuing to experiment with visual communications technologies in his spare time. In 2011, Daniel devised a unique form of computational photography that generates extremely high resolution immersive vibrant images. Daniel’s latest work builds upon his previous experiments by adding a powerful new graphics tool to his artistic workflow; namely “DeepDream,” a technique evolved from Google engineers’ desire to visualize the inner workings of Deep Learning artificial intelligence models.

Artist Statement

My initial experiments in computational photography were driven by my desire to create photo-based depictions of the world that better convey the feeling of a place and the way we really experience it. My “grand format” images that result from these experiments are inspired by the 19th century master paintings of the Hudson River School and by the great romantic European paintings that preceded them. Like those works, some of which reached ten feet in width, I’ve endeavored to create uncannily immersive and idyllic scenic experiences that deliver both breadth and detail. Now, capitalizing on recent technological developments in deep learning and artificial intelligence, along with the hard work and ingenuity of my generous engineering colleagues, Joseph Smarr and Chris Lamb, I’ve been able to push my artwork in an intriguing new direction. Thanks to custom modifications made to Google’s DeepDream software, it has become possible for me to imbue my giant images with a stunning degree of wholly unexpected form and content that is only revealed upon close-up viewing. These “Dreamscapes” represent my attempt to remind myself (and others) that we are all actively participating in a shared waking dream, a dream that is on the precipice of considerable amplification by rapid advances in artificial intelligence and virtual reality.