Geometries of Resistance

Geometries of Resistance by Betsy Aidinyantz, 2025

Artist Statement: This series is an exploration of dissent—silent, loud, systemic, and collective—through the disciplined chaos of Bauhaus abstraction. By using the language of geometry and the tactile texture of acrylic, these works re-imagine protest not as destruction, but as design. Shapes resist one another, colours collide, forms break and reconnect, mimicking the rhythms of social struggle. Created using generative AI, the series is a dialogue between machine precision and human intention. Each piece began with a carefully composed prompt, drawing on the aesthetics of early 20th-century modernism while embedding contemporary questions of surveillance, solidarity, disruption, and voice. Though the hands that shaped these works are synthetic, the ideas behind them are deeply human.

Gallery of Works

1. Voice of Dissent

Upload gallery images and description: This piece captures the raw urgency of protest through a sharp juxtaposition of geometric forms. The red figure, mouth open in mid-cry, symbolizes the act of speaking truth to power. Angular black bars slice across the composition, representing oppressive forces attempting to silence dissent. Yet the bold colour palette and defiant posture emphasize resistance and resilience.

Prompt Used: An abstract acrylic painting titled “Voice of Dissent” in the Bauhaus style. Includes bold geometric shapes in red, black, yellow, beige, and white. Thick brushstrokes and overlapping forms with a red triangle and a beige circle representing a shouting figure. Acrylic texture emphasized.

2. Surveillance Geometry

Upload gallery images and description: In a cold, fragmented grid of blues and grays, a singular eye dominates the canvas—watched by a stylized surveillance camera above. The composition reflects the pervasive gaze of institutional control, fragmenting identity and autonomy. Circles and squares clash subtly, evoking tension between organic presence and mechanical oversight. This piece speaks to the quiet violence of being constantly observed.

Prompt Used: An abstract, geometric oil painting on canvas titled “Surveillance Geometry”. Muted palette of grays, blacks, whites, and blues. A central stylized eye with geometric forms and a surveillance camera above, within a grid-like Bauhaus-inspired layout. Textured oil paint look.

3. Solidarity Circuit

Upload gallery images and description: Three abstracted human figures—red, yellow, and blue—stand linked, forming a unified triad amid a field of sharp, primary geometry. The overlapping limbs and shared shapes suggest strength through connection, echoing the grassroots nature of collective action. The bold acrylic texture gives the figures a physical, almost tactile presence, reinforcing the power of unity in the face of adversity.

Prompt Used: An acrylic painting titled “Solidarity Circuit” in the Bauhaus tradition. Geometric abstraction with three overlapping human figures in red, blue, and yellow. Thick textured paint, angular shapes, and visual energy suggest collective strength and unity.

4. Signal Jam

Upload gallery images and description: Disruption takes form in jagged waves and fractured color fields. The painting mimics a hijacked transmission, with a red lightning bolt cutting through a yellow waveform—an emblem of broken communication and the deliberate distortion of truth. Grids clash and dissolve, echoing systems of control breaking down under the force of dissent. It’s a visual metaphor for resistance in the digital age.

Prompt Used: An abstract, geometric oil painting titled “Signal Jam”. Bold geometric shapes in red, yellow, black, and beige. Thick textured brushstrokes with a large red diagonal shape, jagged yellow waveform, and grid elements. Bauhaus-style disruption and layered texture.

5. Echo Chamber

Upload gallery images and description: This piece reflects the cycle of internalized propaganda and isolated speech. Concentric circles echo outward from a fragmented central core—each ring slightly skewed, breaking the illusion of harmony. Cool blues and sterile grays dominate, pierced by sharp red accents representing bursts of dissent that struggle to escape repetition. It’s a visual meditation on controlled narratives and the erosion of dialogue.

Prompt Used: An abstract acrylic painting in the Bauhaus style, titled “Echo Chamber”. Concentric geometric circles in blue, gray, and white dominate the composition. Jagged red lines break through the rings. The paint texture should appear layered and expressive, imitating acrylic on canvas. Emphasize distortion, circular repetition, and sharp accents.

6. March Construct

Upload gallery images and description: A unified march rendered in blocks and beams. Vertical rectangles—some leaning, some rising—create a visual cadence of bodies in motion. Deep ochres, blacks, and fiery oranges suggest intensity and heat, while horizontal lines mimic banners and barriers. The abstraction evokes not only the strength of the collective but the structures that attempt to contain it.

Prompt Used: A Bauhaus-style acrylic painting titled “March Construct”. Vertical blocks and rectangles in black, orange, ochre, and red represent figures marching. Horizontal lines suggest banners and boundaries. The paint should look layered and textured like acrylic on canvas, with a rhythmic and architectural composition that conveys motion and unity.

About the Project This series was created in collaboration with generative AI tools that allow for text-based control of image generation. Each painting was designed by Betsy Aidin using prompts crafted to evoke specific visual metaphors and social critiques, reflecting the intersection of art, technology, and protest. Tools used include OpenAI’s DALL·E and text-to-image methodologies. All outputs were curated and sequenced by the artist to form a coherent narrative on resistance through abstract form.