A self-described high school “math geek”, Karen Hochman Brown chose to study art and has managed to merge her two passions into masterful digital creations of startling power and beauty.

Los Angeles artist Karen Hochman Brown has married the flexibility of art and the precision of mathematics into a virtually unlimited paintbox. Hochman Brown will be premiering brand new work at the stARTup Art Fair, running February 15th to 17th at The Kinney Venice Beach.

Hochman Brown turns portraits of people into synthesized pieces of visual music. Based on the model of the sound synthesizer, she creates custom brushes that play upon the photograph’s visual information in the same way that a synthesizer plays a riff of music. The computer assists the drawing process, generating brushstrokes that change based on color, shape, texture, luminance and other information found in the photo file, changes that include anything from the angel the stroke is applies to the actual structure of the brush. Her portraits are lively and colorful variations on the subject’s visage.

These inspiring works expand the boundaries of new media and technology-driven art with their lush and evocative depictions.