Hyperportrait I

Kevin Esherick

Hyperportrait I ('one') is a self-portrait in latent space, the first in a series of portraits of this kind. Each hyperportrait is created by training an AI image model on photos of its subject, then extracting their embedding—the mathematical representation that holds the concept of that person—from the model. This embedding amounts to a kind of Platonic Form of that person, a latent space from which any depiction of them can be generated.

The embedding can be re-injected into the model and prompted to produce any kind of portrait of me. It is an abstract portrait that contains all other portraits—a hyperportrait. The embedding is the pinnacle of abstraction, the culmination of movements in both information technology and modernist art pursuing this aim. Hyperportrait I is a meditation on this process of abstraction as the driving force of modernity, as mediated through and promulgated by art and technology. By situating this technology of abstraction within the context of classical portraiture, it contemplates how these forces impact the human person and shape the rapidly-evolving landscape of the world around us. Who am I if these numbers can meaningfully capture my essence? Who are we? Who are you?

Project Collaborators:

Hyperportrait I was released with Heft Gallery in New York at their inaugural show in April 2025, 'Truth or.'