Edwin Vasquez’s “The Joshua Tree Chronicles AI Images” is an homage to the Joshua tree, or yucca brevifolia, as his artificial intelligence images capture the essence of the dying trees.
The exhibition, which has been up since Feb. 6, will remain until April 1. Vasquez’s reception took place on March 21, simultaneously occurring during the Senses Block Party, and saw an influx of attendees.
A Guatemalan native who resides in the Antelope Valley, Vasquez, who is a multimedia artist, created his images through a fusion of photography, mixed media, recycled materials, digital art, poems, videos and AI.
“The Main wanted to have some of the new technology in the community, so they asked if I could bring the artificial intelligence images based on my photographs. So I’m displaying about 20 images,” Vasquez said. “Many people don’t know what Joshua trees are, and they’re so close to us.”
Vasquez created the body of work using the traditional mediums as inspiration for the digitized works displayed.
“Last year I created the body of work, which consisted of paintings, poems, short stories, and video and photographs. The end result of this was to use the [artificial] technology as the very last resort to see what I can come up with,” Vasquez said.
Some might have a misconception of Vasquez being inspired by Joshua Tree National Park, but instead, Vasquez is inspired by the Antelope Valley and his surrounding environment.
“I wrote a poem about how other cultures appreciate what we have in our community, and how we, the humans, do not protect it,” Vasquez said. “A lot of people think that my project is based on the national park, but mine is based on the Antelope Valley. That’s where the issues are happening. We’re losing a lot of the Joshua trees.”
Anyone interested in Vasquez’s work can visit his website at www.edwinvasquez.net.
