Ryan Koopmans

Ryan KOOPMANS was born in 1986 in Amsterdam, Holland. In 2008, he graduated in traditional drawing techniques at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver, Canada. In 2009 he graduated in interdisciplinary studies at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada and in 2012, he graduated in photography, video and media at the School of Visual Arts, New York, USA. He is an artist specializing in the visual revival of abandoned architecture, through the use of a variety of creative techniques, alienating the physical spaces of the real world into fascinating digital environments that blur the boundaries between reality and fiction. He is the author of several exhibitions held at Christie's New York Showcase at Art Basel Miami (2023); Luxeverse at the Museum of the Future, Dubai (2023); Architectural Digest Design Show, Mumbai, India (2023) and Natively Digital at Sotheby’s Paris, France (2023). In 2020, Koopmans published Vantage, a book that showcases surreal structures in large cities and urban landscapes.

Alice Wexell

Alice WEXELL was born in 1992 in Stockholm, Sweden. She is a Swedish 3D artist and photographer, interested in reinventing and recreating surreal environments through new artificial intelligence technologies. In 2014 he graduated in Digital Cultures and Strategic Communication at Lund University, Sweden, in 2015 he graduated in web design med HTML and CSS at Uppsala University, Sweden and in 2021, he graduated in 3D Modeling and Animation in Gävle University, Sweden. Over the past decade, Wexell has worked alongside Koopmans on digital art and photography projects around the world. Their acclaimed collaborative project, The Wild Within, explores the complex relationship between nature, architecture and time and has exhibited at Christie's New York Showcase at Art Basel Miami (2023); Luxeverse at the Museum of the Future, Dubai (2023); Architectural Digest Design Show, Mumbai, India (2023) and Natively Digital at Sotheby’s Paris, France (2023).

The Wild Within
1. Origin, 3D photography, 200 x 112 cm, 2024
2. Beyond the veil, 3D photography, 200 x 112 cm, 2024
3. Desire, 3D photography, 112 x 200 cm, 2022
4. Piety, 3D photography, 200 x 133 cm, 2021
5. Euphoria, 3D photography, 200 x 112 cm, 2023
6. Harvest, 3D photography, 200 x 133 cm, 2021
7. Heights, 3D photography, 112 x 200 cm, 2024
8. Emptiness, 3D photography, 200 x 133 cm, 2021
9. Spring Sonata, 3D photography, 200 x 112 cm, 2024
10. The Enchanted Hour, 3D photography, 200 x 112 cm, 2023
11. Whispering, 3D photography, 200 x 112 cm, 2024
12. Thinking of you, 3D photography, 200 x 112 cm, 2023

The conceptual approach:

The Wild Within is a series of digital artworks that bring new life to abandoned buildings from a bygone era. Based on the physical spaces of the real world, a renaissance has been created in a digital realm. The conceptual approach of this series of works is the research of different places around the world, tracing, discovering and capturing in an intricate way, the abandoned architectural structures that have experienced a dramatic transition. The technique used is that of the lens, including digital technology for shifting and moving pictures and 3D photogrammetry, which stitch together the images to form a detailed view of the structure. The subject of the locations is chosen with different socio-historical contexts, also evaluating the architectural qualities of the building. The first chapter of this series began with the Georgian city of Tskaltubos, then continued with architectural ruins in Lebanon, Armenia, Poland and Italy.

After photography they overlay dense vegetation onto the digitally photographed images, modifying the texture and lighting with the aim of reviving the empty spaces. This as a way to restore the essence of life, in the spaces of abandoned rooms. The results are a surreal collision between the past and the future, the natural and man-made environment, the physical and the digital, the real and the imaginary. The purpose of the artwork is to create a surreal sense of calm and allure during the complicated relationship between the manufactured and natural worlds. In real life many of the buildings depicted in The Wild Within reflect the concept of time passing in the cycle of life's growth and decay.