Top 20 Finalist – PG/StabilityAI DiffuseTogether – “Playing for Time (Bright-Side Mix)”

Created using three of my original paintings, archival 8mm and 16mm film footage, text prompt engineering, and a variety of other tools.

Who I Am

I am an Augmented Reality artist, iPad painter, filmmaker, and technologist who started programming at the age of eleven. Having lived with Crohn’s Disease since birth, I’ve faced my mortality from a young age, setting me on a lifelong journey of emotional and artistic exploration.

My work captures complex emotional states using simple lines, vibrant colors, along with rhythmic movement and editing, while integrating technology to push the boundaries of artistic expression. Through the app I programmed, Daniel Leighton Art + AR, I bring my paintings to life using Augmented Reality (AR), animation, and video, creating an immersive experience that bridges fine art, technology, and storytelling.

My work has been recognized by leading art institutions, including:

  • The Getty Museum (LA)
  • Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA)
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
  • Victoria and Albert Museum (London)
  • LA Center for Digital Art (LACDA)
  • San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (SLOMA)

I have also presented at Technarte and other international forums for digital and interactive art.

Shana Nys Dambrot, art critic, describes my AR work as “[turning] your device into a viewing portal into what it is tempting to describe as a parallel universe.”

Examples of My Work

Animation Samples set to “I/O (Bright Side Mix)” by Peter Gabriel

Angerman – A Film Concept by Daniel Leighton

Augmented Reality & Interactive Art Demo – Daniel Leighton Art + AR App (featured in major art institutions)

“Tied Up At The Hospital” Painting With Augmented Reality

These two short films are embedded in the AR experience of my painting “Tied Up At The Hospital,” which depicts a traumatic event from when I was five years old. The first film delves into the experience of trauma, while the second portrays the process of trying to reconnect after dissociation.

Paintings

Opening Up
The Space Between Us
Back Into The Fire
Arrival
He Is The Sky (The Day Before John Died)
The Way Back To You Is The Way Back To Me
The Presence of Connection
Threshold
InsideMan
Faces And Traces
Touching Energy
Trust The Ground
Many Faces, One Head
Asleep...Alone
On Trial
Tied Up At The Hospital
Lights Out
From Here...To Now...To Nowhere (Now Here)
Color Test
It Was Too Much To Bear, But We're Still Here
There's A Piece of You In Each of Us or Skin Must Break, Sky Must Fall
Don't Know What You've Gained Till You Find Out What You've Lost
Shame!
Human Debris

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