Pixelation could be considered a non-tactile equivalent of a trend in painting that began with Impressionism to expose painting's cellular and viscous structure via the autonomous brushmark. Digital media and painting are similar in that they can have at once a matrix and seamlessness like human skin. Digital media is of course a thing in its own right, but it can also be useful for processing imagery and ideas. Its further development through painting can re--invest it with tactility, coaxing viewers' empathy with the results.