Making the Invisible Impacts of Technology Visible

Making the Invisible Impacts of Technology Visible

Much of the technology that defines our world works quietly—embedded in our devices, our feeds, and even our faces. Artist Gretchen Andrew makes those invisible systems visible through her series, Facetune Portraits.

Gretchen Andrew uses her Facetune Portraits to expose how invisible technologies shape our digital lives.

By translating the effects of beauty filters and AI-driven tools into physical artworks, Andrew reveals how these digital forces manipulate not just images but identities. The smoothness of a cheek, the symmetry of a face, or the gloss of a smile—all are aesthetic choices made by invisible algorithms.

Her work transforms those unseen edits into something tangible, forcing viewers to confront how technology defines our standards of perfection. In doing so, Andrew challenges the myth of objectivity in AI and calls attention to the human biases coded into our digital tools.

The Facetune Portraits make visible what technology hides: the algorithms that decide how we see ourselves and each other.