Acrylic on paper, 27 x 33″ framed. Series of five.

Catastrophic Forgetting is a series of paintings created with a robotic pen plotter. The robot follows instructions produced by a generative algorithm that creates a unique output each time it runs. 

Multiple sine wave oscillation functions, combined with procedurally generated noise, alter the size and orientation of 2,912 paint strokes. Each stroke is a simple straight edge and can be one of five colors.

When combined, moiré interference patterns produce complex curving forms with depth and tonality: the emergent properties of shape and color, paint and paper.

I completed this piece in February 2025, shortly after the LA fires. As we scrambled to provide aid to friends who lost everything, visions of roiling, gaseous dissolution haunted my dreams.

The title refers to a phenomenon in neural networks where the training process for new tasks interferes with the model’s understanding of old tasks. Our insatiable desire for new technologies like AI accelerate climate change, leading to the destruction of our communities and loss of memory.