Meet Ana Roman | Producer, DJ, Generative Artist, and Creative Technologist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ana Roman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ana, how do you think about risk?
Risk is VITAL to everything I do. I see risk as a direct correlation to learning new skills and evolving as an artist. At the tail end of 2019 I felt very stuck in a creative crisis – I nearly gave up on music making and dj-ing. But then I started reading about AI, Machine learning, and generative art. I knew something was going to change. Then the paradigm shift happened. I was forced to take a leap into those skills during the pandemic. In late 2020 I re-branded my music project called skulptor by applying AI, creative coding, and different data sets to my art and music. By late 2020 I had learned how to train my own face and my own image through AI. I taught myself java and how to build different algorithms and data sets for my creative output. I knew it would alienate some of my audience as it was very early in the game for that – mind you this was way before all these AI art generators and apps. I knew it was going to be a risk getting my audience to pivot their way of thinking to accept those tools – but that risk continues to reap so many rewards for me both as an artist, producer, and creative technologist.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started as a flamenco and ballet dancer then at age 7 my grandparents put me in very intense classical piano. So from age 7 to 23 I was playing the western canon. But as a Latin person, I knew I needed to evolve and move away from this – I couldn’t just play these songs on repeat anymore. From there I evolved into a futurist when it came to my own music. I thought I could either keep playing the masters who are dead – or really change the face of music. I had to ask myself, what about my own people? What about my latin upbringing, the global beats and rhythms and flamenco music I was raised with? What about the sounds of the future? So about 12 years ago I asked myself, will I be a key thought leader or game changer in the first 50 years of the 21st century? I ask myself this everyday. Not to be above others or to be competitive – but because I want to be the change I see in the world. So I used the tools I had and taught myself everything about music coding, the art of mixing and dj-ing, audio production, and engineering. I took everything I knew from my classical piano background since the age of 7 and applied that discipline to becoming a trans-disciplinary artist. It’s never easy thinking 2 to 3 steps ahead from others. This comes with consequences. I was never a huge fan of nostalgia so to this day I get left out of a lot of music and techno ‘scenes.’ All I’m going to say is that since 2021 I have been featured in numerous music festivals and not just for my music, but for my visual art. The list of magazines and press keeps adding up for various reasons. Now fast forward to 2024 I’ve been featured at SONAR Music Festival in Barcelona and I’m speaking about Sonic Cyberfeminism at MIT Media Lab and NYU Clive Davis Institute to bring awareness to Ethical AI, Algorithmic Injustices and Bias within big tech and the music industry.

Additionally, I think the reason why my work is catching on is because I tackle what’s on our minds in this paradigm shift: the avatarization of ourselves, the zeitgeist of what’s happening with human creativity through artificial intelligence, and more importantly: how our daily use of technology involuntarily smashes the binary. My work hammers home a constant message, even in my DJ sets: that the regulation of AI for Good in big tech must be applied and that finally, we must accept that technology has transgendered us as humans. This goes beyond appearance, labels, and political ideals. My work challenges others by communicating the idea that human creativity in unison with ethical application of Artificial Intelligence will eventually decouple us from outdated binary labels, and binary ways of thinking.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I make it a rule to visit the best vegan restaurants, consignment shops, thrift stores, flea markets, libraries, botanical gardens, science museums, and contemporary art museums in any city I visit in the world. And also – I only frequent queer parties. I apply this as soon as I get off the plane so it’s a sure fire win. For my home city of the big apple I highly recommend INA for consignment designer pieces, Paragon, Bossa Nova Civic Club, Mood Ring, and Public Records to listen and dance to the best music – both live and behind the decks. Hit all the galleries on the Lower East Side and if you don’t hit the New Museum you’re missing out. For good vegan food Avant Garden is hands down the best, and also for good vegan Mexican food hit Etérea. For parties I would check out Funistilltransgressive and my own parties FOKUS that are once a month. If you need a quick massage, I highly recommend Renew Body Wellness on West 8th street.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Robyn Silber. Robyn’s a badass woman in big tech, paving the way for so many other POC and women in software engineering and STEM. Robyn single handedly built ground-up machine learning-adjacent data engineering systems at Google, in addition she developed a systematic, empathetic approach to leading innovative solutions for long-term maintenance of legacy software, influencing decision making, and connecting with and inspiring colleagues. She is building big, big things and is truly a rising star in the tech world.

Website: http://www.skulptor.space

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anodromedan

Twitter: https://twitter.com/anodromedan

Other: http://www.anaroman.space

Image Credits
All artworks by Ana Roman (Skulptor) Action Photography by Cory O’Brien