UK's Digital Portrait: Faces Unite a Divided Nation

Artist Es Devlin's new installation at the National Portrait Gallery, titled "A National Portrait for the National Portrait Gallery," seeks to unite a fragmented Britain.

The artwork is a collective digital portrait created from thousands of selfies uploaded by people across the UK. Each uploaded image is transformed into a drawing-style portrait before joining a dynamic, projected carousel.

Devlin, known for her work with major artists and events, views this project as a response to growing societal division and loneliness. She emphasizes that the aim is not to erase differences but to encourage coexistence and mutual acceptance.

The installation highlights the imperfections in merging faces, which Devlin sees as a metaphor for the challenges and potential truths in understanding each other.

Developed over three years with Google Arts & Culture Lab, the project uses an AI model trained on Devlin's own drawings. This approach allows selfies to be rendered in a style that mimics physical drawing, distinct from typical digital filters.

Devlin frames her collaboration with AI technology as an act of reclamation, aiming to "dance with my own shadow" and repurpose tools that can be divisive.

She intends for the gallery to be more accessible, offering free drawing workshops and online classes to encourage participation.

These initiatives aim to extend the project's reach beyond the gallery walls, potentially to town halls and schools across the UK.

One contributor, Ravinder Tagarh, shared how seeing his portrait among national figures made him feel seen and part of Britain, alleviating feelings of loneliness and outsider status.