Graphic Designer | AI Artist

aicons

by pegekama

A curated AI-based portrait series in reel format

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GALLERY 03

GALLERY 02

GALLERY 01

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Q & A

On curated AI art, digital memorials, and the power of the reel

The turning point for me was witnessing the quantum leap AI has made in recent years — especially in lifelike, realistic character generation. I initially experimented with fictional people, simply to understand the technology. But quite soon, I felt compelled to try recreating a real, deceased public figure as a kind of reality check: how far could this really go?Romy Schneider was the first. It was a gut decision — and the result completely surprised me. From there, I moved naturally toward icons from my youth: Ian Curtis, Freddie Mercury, Kurt Cobain, and also the German singer Alexandra, whom I deeply admired as a child. After just a few portraits, it became clear that this was more than experimentation. I wanted to turn it into a coherent, named project — with a clear visual system, a title, and an underlying concept.Today, AICONS by pegekama has grown into a large-scale, highly curated AI-based portrait series. Over 180 individual AICONS have been created so far. My Instagram profile now contains more than 1,150 reels, each built from eight AI-generated stills arranged in a consistent 9-tile grid — resulting in over 9,200 curated images. All of this has emerged within 20 months, since the profile was launched on February 8, 2025. Not out of pressure, but out of an unyielding, high-frequency creative momentum.Over time, AICONS also became something deeply personal. As a mother of two, I often find myself thinking about how cultural memory is passed on between generations. Many of the figures I portray have faded from today’s media landscape, even though their influence was formative. AICONS became a way to make these personalities visible again — not as distant history, but as emotionally present, contemporary figures. Less archive, more living tribute.Another strong motivation behind my work is to counter the diffuse fear that still surrounds AI-based imagery. I want to show that AI is not merely about automation or surface aesthetics. Used thoughtfully, it can convey emotional states with remarkable nuance. Some viewers have told me that certain AICONS — especially Romy Schneider — moved them to tears. In parallel to the icon series, I’ve also explored close-up portrait studies that visualize emotions such as grief, anger, or joy through fictional faces. I’m fascinated by how convincingly AI can now translate inner states into visual form. My aim is always to create images that feel natural and believable — as if they were not AI-generated at all.

Curation is the core principle of AICONS by pegekama, and it operates on several levels.Visually, my entire Instagram profile follows a strict grid logic. Each reel is built around a 9-tile composition: eight portrait stills surrounding a central title tile. The images are selected with great care to form a coherent series in terms of mood, style, and color palette. Many images — even technically strong ones — are discarded if they disrupt the overall harmony. With over 25 years of experience as a graphic designer, my role here is less about generation and more about selection, composition, and restraint.The second layer of curation lies in motion and sound. Each image set is transformed into a reel of around 90–180 seconds, carefully edited to the rhythm and emotional arc of the chosen music. Whenever possible, I use original songs by the portrayed artists — often in contemporary remix versions. Growing up with MTV and VIVA, music videos deeply shaped my visual thinking, and that influence is clearly present in the way I structure these reels.Finally, there is an ethical dimension. I choose my subjects deliberately and treat them with respect. AICONS is not about provocation or spectacle. It is about dignity, presence, and remembrance — a contemporary form of portraiture that acknowledges cultural legacy rather than exploiting it.

At its heart, AICONS by pegekama is conceived as a visual and acoustic tribute. Using contemporary tools, I aim to make the impact of these figures tangible again — not in a museum-like way, but with emotional immediacy.There is also a practical reason: the depiction of living individuals is subject to strict personality rights. Without explicit consent, AI-generated likenesses are legally and ethically problematic. With deceased public figures, the boundaries are clearer — provided the portrayal is respectful and non-defamatory. That framework allows AICONS to exist at all.

I approach this question from both sides. I am a classically trained graphic designer — and at the same time, I actively work with AI in professional contexts, including book cover design. I’ve witnessed firsthand how disruptive this technology is, and how emotionally charged the debate around it can be.One AI-driven book cover project I art-directed caused significant backlash in the German publishing scene and even reached national media. That experience sharpened my awareness of the ethical tensions involved. The design industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation, and no one yet knows where it will lead.Rather than rejecting AI or uncritically embracing it, I see my role as exploratory and curatorial. I develop concepts, guide the tools intentionally, select, discard, refine, and recombine. In that sense, working with AI is not a break from my design practice but a continuation of it. I used to search stock libraries for images — now I generate them. What remains essential is judgment, authorship, and responsibility.

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pegekama

Graphic Designer | AI Artist
Freiburg im Breisgau
Germany
[email protected]
instagram.com/pegekama

About

I am a graphic designer with a strong focus on editorial and book design, and the creator of AICONS by pegekama, a non-commercial AI art project dedicated to cultural icons.
With over 25 years of professional experience in visual design, my work combines classical design craft with contemporary AI-based image generation. I am particularly interested in the intersection of memory, authorship and emerging visual technologies.

AICONS by pegekama – The Project

AICONS by pegekama is an ongoing, curated AI portrait series published on Instagram. Each work functions as a visual and acoustic tribute to influential figures from art, music, film, science and cultural history.The project is conceived as a serial visual system: every reel is built from eight AI-generated stills arranged in a strict 9-tile grid and translated into a carefully edited audiovisual composition.

Tools & Process

All works are created through a hybrid, curated process that combines AI-based image generation with manual selection, refinement, animation and editorial composition.Each portrait series evolves through multiple stages: generating visual material, selecting and discarding images with great restraint, refining details, sequencing stills into a coherent visual rhythm and translating the result into an audiovisual format.Rather than focusing on technical spectacle, the process emphasizes authorship, emotional resonance, dignity and visual coherence. AI is treated as a tool within a clearly defined artistic framework, guided by intention, experience and editorial decision-making.

Professional Experience (Selection)

Selected Highlights

Contact

Mail: [email protected]
Website: www.pegekama.com
Instagram: instagram.com/pegekama
Kavyar: kavyar.com/pegekama

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