How Do Tiny Plants Inspire Big Ideas?
Microscopic plants, AI, and photography come together in Casey Reas' work
By Google Arts & Culture
Casey Reas for Gradient Canvas
Who is Casey Reas?
Casey Reas is a Los Angeles-based artist and educator whose work blends technology and creativity. He explores ideas through conceptual, procedural and minimal artworks that come to life using software.
He is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, co-director of UCLA Social Software.
Reas' artistic practice focuses on using code as a creative medium, transforming algorithms into visual experiences that challenge how we see and think about art.
In Silico by Casey Reas by Henrik Kam 2025
To make In Silico , Casey Reas foraged, scanned, and captured microscopic images of native plants from the area of San Francisco. He collected these to explore patterns and forms that are usually invisible to the naked eye.
In Silico by Casey Reas by Henrik Kam 2025
Reimagining nature through a machine
Reas trained a model on these plant images alongside satellite views of the campus, blending three distinct scales to discover visuals that exceeded his own imagination.
In Silico by Casey Reas by Henrik Kam 2025
Can old photography meet new technology?
The resulting images were rephotographed using nineteenth-century techniques, leaving traces of darkroom chemistry visible on the metallic surfaces.
By layering historic and contemporary processes, Reas creates a conversation between two eras of imaging, generating something that feels entirely new.
In Silico by Casey Reas by Henrik Kam 2025
Where is the line between natural and synthetic?
The final work occupies a space between the synthetic and the natural, bridging the past and the future.
Casey Reas for Gradient Canvas
As Reas describes it, “It feels synthetic and it feels natural at the same time. It's in that space in between,” inviting viewers to experience the unexpected beauty that emerges when technology and nature meet.
Learn more about Gradient Canopy here .
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