Ethan is an Emmy-awarded 3D artist and concept designer with three decades of experience in fine art, visual effects, large scale 3D landscapes, interactive simulation, and project conceptualization.
Currently he’s Creative Director and owner of Almost Human Media, a small group of artists and programmers using interactive game engine technology for projects that explore futurist themes spanning science, technology, and the environment. These projects frequently touch diverse mediums ranging from feature film and game to educational technology and public installation.
Ethan’s achievements include winning an Emmy in 2011 for digitally replicating Gettysburg during the Civil War for the documentary, Gettysburg, produced by Ridley Scott. For the SETI Institute, he designed and led the development of a VR based simulation that explores the origins of life. Ethan was co-PI on an NSF grant exploring how high-end games could be used to teach evolution and behavioral ecology to undergraduates. He was art-director and game designer for an interactive exploration of creativity conceived by Robert Redford called Imagynasium. An OG virtual teacher for Gnomon School in the late 90’s, Ethan taught courses on how to use AfterEffects - published on DVD format
Throughout his career, he’s combined fine arts with digital production. In his personal artistic endeavors, Ethan explores new methodologies to infuse his unique vision and a bespoke, often dreamlike essence into expansive digital landscapes and dynamic procedural art. He is currently utilizing digital 3D tools and generative AI to craft intricate procedural art tailored for large-format, responsive video walls. Concurrently Ethan continues work on abstract paintings that depict scenes from memory and dream.
Ethan's academic background and continued interest in Cognitive and Physiological Psychology led him to delve into seminal papers from the 1980s and 1990s, which laid the groundwork for contemporary deep learning. In this field, he is extremely interested in ways that humans can collaborate with AI to solve difficult planet-scale issues.
Ethan lives in the Santa Cruz mountains in California with his wife, Anne-Marie, two ravens, and a sizable house cat.