Berlin-based artist Friederike Meier moves between classical painting and cutting-edge AI technologies, blending traditional techniques with digital innovation. In her haunting, expressive portraits of imagined women, she questions dominant beauty standards, explores gender ambiguity, and gives virtual figures a physical presence through oil and acrylic. With a background in digital education, Meier has developed a distinctive practice that not only engages with machine-generated imagery but reclaims it through human intuition, emotion, and painterly craft.
How did you start working with AI—and what fascinates you about it?
Through my work in the field of digital education, I had early exposure to artificial intelligence. But the real spark came in March 2023, during the exhibition “SHIFT – AI and a Future Community” at Kunstmuseum Stuttgart. I was fascinated by the link between art and AI, even though many of the works portrayed rather bleak visions of the future.
Shortly after, I started experimenting with Midjourney—my favourite image AI—and I couldn’t stop. On the subway, right before falling asleep—I generated hundreds of portraits of women who feel strangely familiar, even though they’ve never existed. I began mimicking the AI’s language, learning to guide it more precisely, while also leaving space for randomness. That balance between control and surprise is exactly what I enjoy. Some images take me in directions I hadn’t considered before.
To me, AI is not a threat but something akin to photography around 1900: a creative revolution that transformed the art world for the better. I work in the space between classical painting and AI, but I’m also watching closely as AI-generated images evolve into an art form in their own right—just as photography once did. I believe that shift is already underway, and I’m excited to witness it.
Your portraits engage deeply with the role of women and prevailing beauty ideals. What’s your conceptual and visual approach to that?
I’ve been exploring the female portrait in painting for years. With AI, new questions emerged: What does the AI consider beautiful? What kind of woman does it imagine?
Since image AIs are based on training data and probability, asking it to generate a “portrait of a woman” usually results in a conventionally attractive, long-haired, smooth-skinned, smiling figure. That reflects what our Western society most often sees—and clicks on.
But I want to paint women I find interesting and beautiful—figures who are often somewhere between genders, emotionally complex, thoughtful, angry, frustrated, or sad. To challenge the AI’s default, I phrase my prompts differently. Sometimes I even use words like “ugly” or “average-looking,” though I find the resulting figures stunning.
I style them, do their hair, and let the AI’s imagination play along. My prompts might say: “She’s wearing clothing from the Balenciaga show in Paris, 2075.” It’s fascinating to see how the machine visualises the future. I also direct poses and aim to make them look like intimate snapshots—caught off guard.
I specify light, camera angle, format, even film type. From hundreds of generated images, I select a few that move me emotionally. I then edit them digitally and paint them—usually in bold, expressive colours. Once on canvas, there’s no trace of the AI left—and that’s exactly how I want it. I want the final paintings to stand on their own and feel genuine, even with a digital backstory.
Later, some of the finished works are reanimated into short AI-generated video loops. In this way, they return to the digital realm—standing up, blinking into the camera, laughing, or talking to themselves in frustration. It’s a continuation of the story behind the painting—or maybe the beginning of another one.
What’s coming up next—can you give us a glimpse?
I’m currently working on a new series about women and so-called club codes. The painting “Theresa [05:43]” is part of it, and more works are in development. The series revolves around the visual language of women in the club scene.
I collected and studied a wide range of selfies and street photos of women outside techno clubs—looking at how they present themselves: what they wear, their gestures, hairstyles, and overall vibe. I wanted to understand how these women perform identity and beauty in those specific spaces.
I translated these observations into prompts that I use to create fictional figures dressed in these club codes, portraying the diversity and self-expression of feminine identities within that scene.
You’ll soon be exhibiting with New & Abstract at both KUNST/MITTE in Magdeburg and the Affordable Art Fair in Hamburg. What are you most looking forward to?
I’m especially excited to present my video works for the first time outside of Instagram, together with New & Abstract. As mentioned, some of my paintings are reanimated through AI after the painting process, becoming short video pieces.
Each one brings the women back to life—they get up, blink annoyed into the camera, laugh, or talk to themselves. It’s a continuation of the narrative that may—or may not—lie behind the painting. I don’t want to impose too much interpretation. I’d rather let the viewer decide what they’re witnessing.
What’s the biggest challenge of being visible as an artist today—in a world seemingly ruled by algorithms, likes, and trends?
At 33, I basically grew up with social media, so it’s always been part of my world. But I still think the core truth remains: do what genuinely fascinates you.
Try to get better at it. Keep painting. Keep going. But also—share your work. Talk about it. The rest will come naturally over time.
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