BATESIAN MIMICRY, 2024

BATESIAN MIMICRY draws direct inspiration from Goya’s WITCH'S FLIGHT, paralleling the current state of global anxiety surrounding AI and its apocalyptic associations. It’s a depiction of an age-old conflict between reason and superstition. Science presents a magical tool in AI technology. Do we embrace AI as a boon to mankind, or reject it as an obvious hindrance? We hear the warning calls and either choose to intervene or to willfully ignore them, a classic tale made more urgent by contemporary fears.

The painting's title refers to a form of mimicry in which a harmless species evolves to imitate the warning signals of a harmful species. This type of mimicry provides the mimic with protection from predators, as the predator mistakenly associates the mimic with the harmful species and avoids it. A prime example is viceroy butterflies imitating monarch butterflies to avoid predation.