The Bodies We See Online Don’t Exist

“When I grew up it was commonly said that celebrities and pageant queens made beauty standards impossible. Now, they are literally impossible,” says artist Gretchen Andrew. “The bodies we are seeing on social media do not exist; they are digitally manipulated portraits. I was drawn to the way technology and artificial intelligence (AI) were changing our perception of other people and of ourselves.”

Gretchen Andrew discusses how AI and digital tools have made beauty standards literally impossible through her Facetune Portraits.

Andrew’s Facetune Portraits capture this cultural shift. Where once airbrushing and magazine edits set unreachable ideals, AI-powered filters have now moved those ideals beyond the boundaries of reality itself. These digital interventions alter the way we see not only others but also ourselves.

By turning these illusions into physical works of art, Andrew restores the tactility and imperfection that technology erases. Each portrait exposes how invisible digital tools compress human diversity into algorithmic uniformity.

The result is a body of work that confronts the psychological and aesthetic impact of living in a filtered world—where the ideal image is one that can’t, and never could, exist.

The Bodies We See Online Don’t Exist