“It is common knowledge that we humans are merely tiny specs of matter floating in a vast (and I mean vast!) universe, but what if, for a moment, we could become the universe? Or at least a galaxy? That is what Barcelona-based artist Sergio Albiac is attempting to achieve through his series of work entitled Stardust Portraits. Based on an algorithm set-up by Albiac, portraits of people are merged with selected images from the Hubble Telescope. The result? Your face turns into a cluster of stars, nebulae and galaxies. An astronomical collage. What is even more impressive is the artists’ process. Participants are able to send the artist their portraits, and the only work that the artist has to put into his pieces, is putting them through the algorithm. All the images are the result of chance and spontaneity. For the artist, his work perfectly reflects the idea of chance experiences in our lives. The process of building these portraits from both the image of the face and galaxies, parallels new matter coming into existence all throughout space and time, becoming another important piece of the universe’s structure. And though these portraits may look like they are trying to put us at the centre of the universe, in reality, we are all the centre of our own universes. Together though, these galaxy portraits become one, cohesive, beautiful universe, reflective of our diversity. It transforms into a social universe.”
– Anna Paluch