Kieren Seymour on Floating Heads and Artificial Intelligence in His New Otherworldly Exhibition

For the artist’s third solo exhibition with Neon Parc (Naarm/Melbourne), Kieren Seymour presents a new series of paintings which evoke a nonsensical, dreamlike world inhabited by mythical creatures and motifs. Interested in the dichotomy of utopia and dystopia, Bitcoin, AI and more, Melbourne Art Fair speaks with Kieren about Sins of the Cloud and the inspirations behind his idiosyncratic human-mythical characters.

Sins of the Cloud is exhibiting at Neon Parc’s Brunswick location until 24 August.

There is a sense in this body of work that they are all connected in one dystopian and sometimes utopian universe, complete with floating heads and distorted characters. Can you expand on some of the motifs you use in Sins of the Cloud?

There are some recurring motifs such as floating heads, distorted anatomies and human and non-human forms, a blend of dystopian and utopian elements that explore an imagined future reality, it’s a world to make a show in. I’m curious about making a picture that connects with people, its mysterious how/if that works, it’s not logical, and it’s not assisted by language, it’s on its own terms, in it’s own realm.

Kieren Seymour, Sins of the Cloud, exhibition view, 2024, Neon Parc (Naarm/Melbourne).

Kieren Seymour, In 2034 Our Boss Became Increasingly Impatient, 2024. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 150 x 260cm. Courtesy the artist and Neon Parc (Naarm/Melbourne).

The characters in your paintings are often human-animal hybrids or mythical creatures, or an amalgamation of both. Can you give some insight into your artistic (or otherwise) influences when creating these characters?

My characters, sometimes human-animal hybrids are often, not really planned, they are always just ‘figures’ in some sort of event/scenario, doing something that seems important at the time. My influences are varied, Edvard Munch, Rose Wylie, Otto Dix, Jutta Koether, Captain Beefheart paintings, Philip Guston, cave paintings, anime, science, ai, engineering, and importantly things that happen in day to day in life, oh, and also probably my main area of interest macroeconomics, and Bitcoin.

Fighting And Making Money features sprite-like creatures in a peaceful composition despite the title’s suggestion of a duel. What significance do you find in the contrast of conflict and harmony in this piece?

The motif of heads crashing/joining together has been kicking around for a few years now. Sometimes you have an idea and just need to keep using it until it makes sense. I often don’t understand my characters completely at the start and/or the end of the process, but it’s okay, I don’t think I have to, I think these two are making wealth/money together, its under great pressure but worth the process for them. I wanted it to be abundant which is why their wealth is different kinds of precious jewels. I spend a lot of time reading and thinking about money, currency, wealth and economics, in some ways I feel like it’s the human soap opera on a macro level, on the other hand I believe it’s the most prescient humanitarian issue of our lifetime.

Kieren Seymour, Fighting And Making Money, 2024, acrylic and watercolour on canvas, 150 x 260cm. Courtesy the artist and Neon Parc (Naarm/Melbourne).

You describe creating this body of work as similar to writing science fiction or fantasy. Can you expand on your exploration of Artificial Intelligence and its possible impact for our future in Sins of the Cloud?

I’m very curious about the duality of Artificial Intelligence as both a transformative force and a potential threat, reflecting on its capacity to enhance efficiency and decision-making while also posing ethical and security challenges. The idea of my pictures being like sci-fi or fiction is new, but a comfortable one, I’m not so interested in making predictions about things, in 2013 I made works about housing prices escalating rapidly and 2015 and 2021 about Bitcoin, they could be perceived as predictions and I don’t like the idea so much, my work over the last few years has forced me to accept an immutable aspect of reality, the moment after this one is uncertain. Like sci-fi, I like playing with the material, ideas of ‘now’, imagining anything I want with the current reality. I mean this current show has humans that travel on a single atom, lol, and giant red humanoid-ish AI that turn us into snails as their workers. Neils Bohr stated “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future”. Haha, brilliant and funny guy. The process of working in your own world is greatly freeing and joyful, a great place for creativity to flow.

Kieren Seymour is represented by Neon Parc (Naarm/Melbourne).
To enquire about Kieren’s works, click here to contact Neon Parc.

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Melbourne Art Fair returns in the Victorian summer, 20 – 23 February 2025, at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Participating galleries and artists announced in October 2024.