I love the beauty of mistakes.

As digital imaging technologies continue to push for higher resolutions and less noise, it becomes trivial to create increasingly clean, authentic representations of the world… and I can’t help but want to introduce errors and noise.

Diagonal rows of small stepped blocks in red, cyan, green, and white across the top half, shifting to pink, orange, blue, and dark green below.
Weaver 1389 (a) | Abstract Glitches | 2016

I remember the first time I saw a JPEG that failed to download properly. It ended up with a lower half that consisted of yellow blocks and horizontal lines with only hints of the original image peeking through. That was on an Amiga, at the end of the 90s, and there was something very enticing about it.

What’s going on with this image? What happens if I manually edit JPEG data… could I recreate the effect?

It was a window into the heart of image compression that started me down a path of experimentation with image processing, glitches, and abstract art. Since then, I’ve enjoyed working on processes that take unassuming sources and transform them into something quite different through a series of operations that distort, degrade, and rearrange.

Mirrored columns of pale green and cyan horizontal streaks on black, forming a symmetrical architectural pattern.
Digby's revenge | Abstract Glitches | 2016
A symmetrical mass of stacked horizontal bars in magenta, pink, teal, and lime green, mirrored left to right.
Herman | Abstract Glitches | 2016

Years ago, I was looking at the inner workings of a JPEG encoder as a learning and optimisation exercise, and realised the creative potential in making changes to various stages of the encoding process. Today I continue to build on those ideas, making and using tools (including a modified JPEG encoder) to help create original images that are - to me at least - quite aesthetically pleasing.

Prints

I’m pretty happy with the processes and images I’m making, so have started collecting some of my favourite Abstract Glitches, and preparing them for print. The images on this page are examples of those first selections.

A look at some of the prints.

Several glitch prints with white borders laid out at an angle on a wooden surface.
Angled close-up of a print's magenta, pink, and green horizontal bars, with shallow focus.
Angled close-up of a print's diagonal rows of tiny multicoloured stepped blocks.
Angled close-up of a pale print with faint grey blocks and touches of lime green and cyan.
Close-up of a print's vertical pink, orange, and dark red streaks, softly out of focus.
Close-up of the corner of a print with glowing pink, blue, and green blurs and dark speckled shapes.
Close-up of a print's grid of pale pink, maroon, and dark brown rectangles.
Angled close-up of a print's white, green, and cyan horizontal lines on black.
Close-up of a print's diagonal green, pink, and red streaks on black.
Angled close-up of a print's dense black, cream, and red pixel pattern.

I wasn’t too sure if printing would work all that well for subjects like this with high contrast, pixellation, and sharp edges, but I’m really pleased how they translate to a printed medium. Outputting them to paper at 360 DPI means edges are pin-sharp, and I’m impressed by the vibrancy of the colours and deepness of the blacks achieved by the giclée process.

A pale, almost white field of soft grey blocks in staggered rows, with small flecks of lime green and cyan.
Gone. Not gone. | Abstract Glitches | 2016
Horizontal bands of fine vertical streaks in pink, magenta, cream, and orange on a black background.
Cubed | Abstract Glitches | 2016
Irregular columns of pale pink, maroon, and dark red rectangles inside a black border.
Upsetting | Abstract Glitches | 2016

Pareidolia

Along with Abstract Glitches, I have also been continuing to work on the Pareidolia series.

Glowing blurs of pink, blue, green, and red on black, broken by dark speckled shapes that suggest a face.
Fall damage (2405) | Pareidolia | 2016
A blurred black and white macro texture with a glittering dark ridge running across it, inside a black border.
Aberration | Pareidolia | 2016

Self Portrait (preview)

Finally, a preview of a larger and more personal collection that I’m working on.

An extensive series of self-portraits that explores/breaks my own reluctance to be captured on camera is not something I thought I’d do, but I am enjoying the process of mangling my pixels, and have tentative plans to put on an exhibition of the complete collection next year.

Dense vertical stripes of green, teal, pink, red, and purple on black, made of smeared pixel columns.
I see | Self Portrait
Three tall mirrored columns of blocky dark brown, cream, and pink pixels, each suggesting stacked faces.
n Faces | Self Portrait
A nude figure seen from behind against black, outlined in faint blue light, with a glowing pink and white glitched head.
Cheek | Self Portrait