Recolouring Isis
This interactive sequence explores how colour can be reconstructed from historical artifacts using digital processes and artificial intelligence. The work follows a Pixel-Palette-Morph: a staged transformation where an image is reduced into pixels, expanded into a colour palette, and then rebuilt into a new visual hypothesis.
It begins with a photograph of a non-coloured bust of Isis. The image is gradually broken down into pixel structures, reducing visual detail and revealing the underlying grid of digital representation. At the midpoint, a test pattern presents a range of historically plausible pigments that may have been used in ancient Egyptian sculpture.
From this palette, an artificial reconstruction begins. Colour and form are progressively reintroduced, guided by computational interpretation rather than physical evidence alone. The final image represents a possible AI-assisted recolouring — not a definitive restoration, but a visual hypothesis.
The work invites viewers to consider how we see, interpret, and reconstruct the past. It highlights the role of perception, technology, and cultural knowledge in shaping what we understand as “authentic” colour.
Recolouring Isis is not about restoring an object to its original state. It is about observing the Pixel-Palette-Morph itself: the process through which images, data, and human perception collaborate to produce meaning.