GABRIELA MORENO

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE

FEBRUARY 16 – MARCH 1

Welcome to the Future is a digital image-based project that explores humanity’s shifting relationship with nature, technology, and control. Using trail and hunting cameras—tools originally designed to monitor and exploit wildlife—I collect images in which no animals appear. These empty frames, where life once moved but is now still, become documents of disconnection: surveillance without purpose. 

I then intervene in these photographs not through traditional editing, but by altering their hexadecimal code—the language a computer reads to produce an image. In each file, I erase the words “end,” “of,” and “era” and replace them with “welcome to the future.” This act of digital rewriting corrupts the image, leaving it fragmented or unreadable. The process becomes a symbolic act of transformation: by rewriting the code, I metaphorically overwrite the end of one world with the uncertain beginning of another. 

A transition of era marks a profound shift—a moment when the familiar dissolves and something new and untested takes its place. Sometimes this change is sudden; other times, it creeps in quietly, only recognized in hindsight. Welcome to the Future seeks to visualize that in-between moment: the threshold between presence and absence, control and collapse. In the context of accelerating AI development, rising global temperatures, and technological intervention in natural systems, these broken images reflect the instability of our current age. 

The project aligns with the FLEX Mission by presenting a visually striking and conceptually rigorous body of work that merges digital process, ecological thought, and photography. Welcome to the Future invites viewers to confront what remains when our gaze persists, but the world no longer looks back. 

Gabriela Moreno (b. 2000, Texas) was raised in Vermont near her mother’s hometown along the US–Canada border, while frequently visiting her father’s birthplace on the US–Mexico border. As a Mexican-Canadian raised in the United States, her work often reflects a layered relationship with cultural identity and place. Her interest in photography was sparked by her mother’s encouragement and the inheritance of her grandmother’s Nikon. She is currently pursuing a BFA in Photography at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX, where she explores themes of Power, Space, Time, and Identity. Her practice includes both digital image manipulation and documentary photography, working in digital and 35mm film formats. 

ABOUT THE TXST FL3X PROGRAM

The Texas State Galleries’ FLEX space invites Texas State Art and Design students, faculty, staff, and alumni to envision and assemble well-considered, visually engaging, and conceptually stimulating exhibitions and events. Through these programs, FLEX highlights the unique creative vision of our community and its relevance within the larger art world. 

For details regarding the application process, including application deadlines, see Opportunities.