Gretchen Andrew, a former Silicon Valley software engineer turned artist, has created a series titled "Facetune Portraits: Universal Beauty" that critiques unattainable beauty standards perpetuated by social media and AI. Using images of Miss World contestants, she employs the apps Facetune and Body Tune to digitally alter the photos, then works with creative robotics company Matr Labs to produce oil paintings. An oil paint printer creates the original image, and an XY-axis drawing robot adds brushstrokes based on discrepancies between the original and AI-modified versions, resulting in unsettling portraits that highlight the 'scars' of digital manipulation. The series won the Acquisition Award at Untitled Art Miami Beach and has been shown at Hope 93 gallery in London and Heft Gallery in New York, with a major institutional acquisition pending.
The work matters because it makes visible the often-invisible impacts of AI and digital editing on self-perception and societal beauty standards, particularly for young people. Andrew argues that face- and body-modifying algorithms are now embedded in everyday tools like Zoom and smartphone cameras, compressing diverse appearances into a single, unrealistic ideal. By forcing the viewer to confront the messy coexistence of authentic and 'ideal' selves, the series challenges the homogenizing effect of AI on both human identity and art itself, sparking conversation about technology's role in shaping culture and mental health.