Dimitri van der Werf

Dimitri van der Werf has been working as a digital artist since 2023 and presented the first-ever solo exhibition of AI-assisted artworks in a Dutch gallery. In the autumn of 2023, he showed 20 works from his ‘Conference of Birds’ series at the Sis Josip Gallery in The Hague. His work is also displayed at the Dead End Gallery in Amsterdam, including during Museum Night Amsterdam.

Already working as a graphic and book designer, he became captivated by the creative possibilities of AI after the release of Midjourney 5 in March 2023, especially for creating staged and surrealistic photographs. Inspired by Hans Holbein’s portrait of a nobleman with a falcon in the Mauritshuis, he started a series of double portraits featuring fictional characters and fictional birds, including new bird species created by AI.

Dimitri carefully selects from the images he generates with his prompts, which he finds work like magic spells. He creates variations of his chosen images, also using different platforms to create enhancements and enlargements. To assemble the final image, he combines elements from different variations and also edits his images by hand.

At the Fotoacademie Amsterdam, Dimitri has given several workshops on creating images with AI. He also gives lectures on AI and his creative approach. He is also involved in the music scene. As the artistic director and initiator of Classical NOW!, he organizes concerts of classical and new music in The Hague.