Facetune Portraits: A Disagreement with Technology

When we scroll through social media, technology quietly shapes our sense of self. Filters suggest smoother skin, sharper jawlines, brighter eyes. Apps like Facetune normalize perfection as if it were a default setting. But what happens when art refuses to comply?

Gretchen Andrew’s Facetune Portraits are painted arguments against digital correction. Each work carries the marks of a disagreement with what technology insists we should look like. In her studio, Gretchen layers paint where apps would smooth, exaggerates where algorithms would erase, and preserves imperfection where filters would flatten.

“These aren’t just portraits; they’re records of a disagreement with what technology tells us to be.”

“These aren’t just portraits,” she explains. “They’re records of a disagreement with what technology tells us to be.”

The process itself becomes a counter-performance to digital manipulation. Instead of removing flaws, Gretchen highlights them; instead of hiding texture, she emphasizes it. The result is more than a series of paintings—it’s a confrontation with the way digital culture standardizes identity.

As part of the Whitney Museum’s permanent collection, the Facetune Portraits hold space for imperfection, vulnerability, and individuality. They remind us that to resist technological perfection is itself an act of creativity.

Facetune Portraits: A Disagreement with Technology