"Once Upon Now" is a blend of photography and AI-assisted digital art by Inna Etuvgi, alias My Psychedelic Garden.
In this work, the artist speaks about the modern society that seems to live in several layers of time simultaneously: "new technologies alongside archaic social norms, traditions mingled with new trends. We remember the old fairy tales we grew up with, yet we hardly understand how to apply them in the present. Our lives are vastly different from those of even our nearest ancestors. Humanity is rapidly moving forward, yet at the same time, it stands still. The future is already here, but so is the past.
Yet, in the relentless march towards tomorrow, we have to be anchored in the wisdom of bygone eras for the saga of humanity to be ever-evolved. Ancient forests, witnesses to the passage of countless generations, now whisper to the steel and circuitry of drones; epochs are blending. In this living narrative, we are both the authors and the protagonists of an unfolding story, "Once Upon Now," where every moment is a crossroad between what was and what is yet to come."
ABOUT THE PRINT:
Gicleè print on Canson Fine Art paper + COA
Installed in Ph-neutral passpartout 30x40 cm + backing, ready for framing
Image size 20x25 cm
Limited edition 25
Signed, numbered and printed by the author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Etuvgi is a Sweden-based self-educated artist with aphantasia, which uses photography and digital art to visualize her feelings, concepts, and dreams.
Etuvgi's works have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions internationally and are featured in “Photography in the Visual Culture” 22/23 book. In 2022, she became a finalist at the Arte Laguna Prize 16. In 2023, the artist was granted a stipend from the Swedish Arts Grants Committee.