Real Maine is a commentary on the homogeneity of landscapes and the lack of cultural representation in classical Maine art. By entering the painting and abstracting the landscape, the image is transformed into a more complex and nuanced representation of the state as a whole.

Artificial intelligence was used as a tool to synthesize the repetitive elements in landscape paintings, specifically in Maine. When the software was prompted to create a painting of a “Maine landscape,” the images it conjured contained many repeated elements (pine trees, fall foliage, sunset, rivers and oceans, old houses, etc.). They may be common parts of the land, but they lack the substance, character, and complexity of “real” Maine.

The artist’s intrusion into the painting is a “queering” of Maine art. Ultimately, any actions a queer person takes to change a work of art “queers” it, representing the work through a unique lens.