British artist Thomas Lisle has long explored the frontier where painting meets digital media, creating a compelling fusion of tradition and innovation. With a career spanning over four decades, his work seamlessly integrates analog techniques with immersive digital processes. Currently, Galeria Maior in Pollença is presenting Lines of Thought, a solo exhibition curated by Pau Waelder. This body of work is complemented by an artcast on Niio, offering audiences a deeper insight into Lisle’s hybrid practice of “time-based paintings” and dynamic compositions.
We spoke with the artist about his creative process, the interplay between digital and physical media, and how his works evolve across dimensions and time. This brief three-question interview offers readers a quick dive into Lisle’s work, which can be further explored in a longer interview and an essay by the artist, both published in Niio Editorial.
View of the exhibition “Lines of Thought” by Thomas Lisle at Galeria Maior in Pollença (Mallorca, Spain).
Your exhibition Lines of Thought showcases both physical and digital works. Can you tell us how these two forms are connected in your process?
In this series, the digital paintings came first. Using the 3D animation software, I painted a series of tubular shapes, similar to pencil lines but with volume. These I could edit, move around, and change in any way I wanted. When I was happy with these elements, I converted the tubular shapes into simulated liquids and set different parts of each of them to have different values of mass, viscosity, and so on.
The pencil lines thus became a liquid simulation (using complex mathematics developed by others). I turned the gravity to zero in most pieces but not all: in some of the pieces several paint strokes have gravity and others don’t. Then in some of the artworks I animated a brushstroke over time, moving across the virtual canvas and interacting with other paint elements. The main themes of this series of artworks are about dynamic compositions and forms, as well as contrasts of colour, forms, mass, and movement.
Thomas Lisle. Currents, 2025
The next step was the animation of the liquid paints: to do that I built complex invisible forces that push the liquids around. I spent a lot of time trying out different combinations of forces and the settings controlling the liquids, until I got the results I aimed for, that have a visual, painterly meaning to me. I think about these compositions in terms of relationships and abstractions that I think could make either a great painting and/or a good animation.
For the paintings I took specific moments of the animation where I felt that the composition, colour, and forms are the best and then I used that image as the basis for a painting. So all the process that I described above has also been carried out considering this last stage in which the animation can become an oil painting on canvas.
Thomas Lisle. Flotsam, 2025.
You describe these animations as “time-based paintings.” What makes this digital approach painterly in your view?
What makes them painterly is the visual language they inherit from traditional painting—color, composition, gesture—but reimagined in motion and time. Each animation is a dynamic abstraction, shaped by invisible forces I program to manipulate the virtual paint. I spend a lot of time adjusting these forces and liquid parameters to create meaningful visual relationships—whether it’s through tension, mass, or movement. These aren’t just technical effects; they’re part of a painterly exploration, extended into the temporal realm.
“In the digital 3D space, lines evolve; they can be manipulated in ways unimaginable even 20 years ago.”
What does the idea of a “line” mean in this body of work, especially given the title Lines of Thought?
The line is foundational here—both as a visual element and as a metaphor. Traditionally, lines have been the building blocks of drawings and paintings. In the digital 3D space, lines evolve; they can be manipulated in ways unimaginable even 20 years ago. In my process, lines are the genesis of everything: they become forms, masses, and ultimately, flowing simulations. Conceptually, the title Lines of Thought speaks to both this visual structure and the algorithmic logic behind digital creation—almost like thinking made visible.
Lines of Thought is on view at Galeria Maior, Pollença, throughout June 2025. A curated selection of Lisle’s digital works is also available on Niio as part of a special artcast accompanying the exhibition.
Born in Osaka in 1976 and trained in post-production editing after graduating from the University of Fine Arts, Eisuke Ikeda has developed a distinctive visual language that seamlessly weaves analog sensibility into digital precision. His works are marked by an intentional embrace of imperfection—subtle distortions, organic pulses, and delicate fractures that bring a surprising tactility to the virtual screen. Central to Ikeda’s practice is a deep trust in the viewer’s intuition. He eschews overt symbolism or narrative structure, focusing instead on the phenomenological act of seeing. Subtle distortions, organic fluctuations, and textural echoes mimic natural erosion and evoke the tactile essence of physical matter, despite being rendered entirely in the digital realm.
Niio has recently launched the solo artcast Eternity of the Ephemeral, which features five artworks that, more than just moving images, unfold like ambient states of consciousness. These are not works to be watched in the conventional sense—they are to be dwelled in, felt, and absorbed. Each composition becomes an experiential landscape where the viewer’s perception becomes the true medium. In the following interview, the artist elaborates on his creative process and the concepts that underlie his artistic practice.
Eisuke Ikeda. EXoC 2681257 | 2025 Remix |, 2025
You have worked as a post-production CGI specialist for film productions. How does this background influence or nurture your artistic production? What have you learned in terms of software usage and image production that you are now applying to your artistic projects?
When I worked in post-production, my duties ranged from assisting with television editing to creating CGI components and producing opening visuals for music events.
What impressed me most during that time were the veteran craftsmen at the Kyoto film studios. Cinematographers, editors and script supervisors—professionals who, in other careers, would already be retired—devoted themselves to finishing each project, working through the night without hesitation. Their approach to filmmaking was more than technical skill; it was a way of life. The blend of boldness, precision and pride they embodied remains vivid in my memory.
Those experiences still shape my practice today. Although my methods have evolved, the resolve to “communicate through moving images” and the quiet sincerity with which I face each work are values I inherited from them.
“The interweaving of nature with daily life and the presence of temples and shrines in Kyoto have formed my aesthetic foundation since childhood.”
My sensibility is also rooted in Kyoto’s environment. The interweaving of nature with daily life and the presence of temples and shrines have formed my aesthetic foundation since childhood. From art-school days to the present I have been drawn to contemporary art, Japanese Zen, Buddhist art and classical arts; the decorative and symbolic qualities of hanging scrolls, folding screens and esoteric Buddhist implements continue to influence me spiritually.
The software skills I acquired by self-study at university became my technical base. I entered the field just as digital tools were being introduced, and programs such as After Effects, Photoshop and non-linear editors proved indispensable in both commercial and personal work. Those skills still underpin my art today. More recently I have expanded my toolkit—again self-taught—to include TouchDesigner and Ableton Live.
Thus, beyond any single CGI technique, it is the mindset and sensibility cultivated in post-production, together with my exposure to diverse art forms, that define the core of my creative work.
Eisuke Ikeda. EXoC 2681257 | 2025 Remix |, 2025
Can you briefly describe the process of elaboration of your artworks? Despite being abstract compositions, what are the experiences, images, or ideas that trigger their creation?
I currently rely on TouchDesigner and Ableton Live to pursue abstractions in which sight and sound intertwine. Although I once produced 3-D character animation, I gradually became more attracted to abstraction—forms that leave interpretation to the viewer rather than imposing narrative or figuration. I am drawn to structures with no beginning or end, no fixed centre, in which spiritual resonance can reside.
My process is improvisational. Instead of following a strict concept, I trust “moments of visual delight.” As light, motion and colour shift, I adjust elements in real time, responding with my emotions and bodily sense—an approach akin to musical improvisation.
The five works uploaded to Niio focus on delicate particle movements, yet my style remains fluid. Depending on my state of mind I may move toward flat compositions, high contrast or rapid motion. In every case I seek to evoke pre-linguistic emotions or fragments of memory, rather than convey explicit meaning.
“I am drawn to structures with no beginning or end, no fixed centre, in which spiritual resonance can reside.”
In your artworks, you avoid any rigid interpretation or meaning. In fact, the title of each video is mostly a reference number, with no intention of providing any narrative. Yet the descriptions are quite poetic, with references to memory, silence, the soul, or eternity. How do you balance the purely abstract and rational with the more evocative and narrative aspects of your work?
Titles such as EXoC or abCnW are deliberately cryptic: abbreviations of words that interested me at the time. They preserve ambiguity and poetic space, encouraging open interpretation rather than prescribing it.
Ultimately I want to offer a “purely visual experience” that quietly expands awareness. What I call a “tactile sensation beyond the screen” is this spiritual and sensory resonance—one that connects, for me, with the animistic quietude in traditional Japanese aesthetics.
“Ultimately I want to offer a purely visual experience that quietly expands awareness.”
Ephemerality is a key concept in your work, expressed in fleeting elements, bursts of light, and also darkness. Is the search for the expression of the ephemeral what led you to work with digital media? How do motion, light, and darkness play a role in your work?
Creating art has always been a digital act for me. Since my student days I have worked on a computer; I have never painted on canvas. Thus expression and digital media are inseparable in my practice.
I did not adopt digital tools because I sought ephemerality; rather, I have long explored how to express ephemerality within the digital environment I know so well.
That sense of impermanence appears in flickers of light, bleeding shadows and formless tremors that rise and vanish. These overlap with memory fragments and emotional echoes, permeating the viewer as a subtle perception of time and space.
Motion, light and darkness are indispensable to this. They remain understated—quivering softly inside the frame, leaving a quiet trace. Only digital media allow the fine-grained accumulation of change that produces the fragile texture I seek.
Eisuke Ikeda. EXoC 2681257 | 2025 Remix |, 2025
Each artwork in this series features a meditative soundtrack. How does music support the visual experience? Does it introduce a narrative, or convey a certain emotion?
For every piece in this series the soundtrack was composed after the visuals were completed. The music introduces no explicit narrative; its purpose is to support atmosphere and mood.
Sound and image function symbiotically: audio flows with the rhythm of light and movement. Rather than directing viewers toward set emotions, the restrained soundscape leaves room for personal reflection and sensory introspection.
“Only digital media allow the fine-grained accumulation of change that produces the fragile texture I seek.”
The use of Artificial Intelligence models is gaining widespread use in artistic creation. Are you interested in applying AI to your creative process in any way?
Advances in AI have opened a new perspective on my work. When OpenAI’s ChatGPT gained wide attention a few years ago, its potential struck me powerfully. For an artist rooted in digital expression, AI’s arrival echoed the shock photography once delivered to painting, prompting artists to reconsider their medium.
Many creators now collaborate with AI. I have begun tentative experiments in TouchDesigner, exploring AI-driven possibilities. My use is still preliminary, but I am gradually looking toward deeper integration—generating code and widening the scope of interaction.
Jinsil Lee is a visual artist based in Seoul, South Korea. She earned a BFA degree in 2019 from School of Visual Arts, New York City, where she initially developed her photography work. She later on moved to Seoul, where she continues her career as an artist while working as a content specialist at Tesla Korea. Her work has been featured on the Samsung US website and Samsung Mobile USA social channels, and she has also participated in group shows such as the Naver Z Metaverse Exhibition (2022), Pulse Art Fair in Miami (2019), and School of Visual Arts Mentor Show (2019).
On the occasion of her first solo artcast on Niio, Transcendence, we talked with Jinsil about her creative process and the way she transforms scenes captured in her daily environment into mesmerizing abstract compositions.
Jinsil Lee. Dream of a summer night, 2019
You studied at the NY School of Visual Arts and currently live and work in Seoul as a visual artist and content specialist. Both New York and Seoul are vibrant cities, each with their own pace and culture. What has been more inspiring to you from your experience living and developing your career between the US and South Korea?
New York and Seoul are very similar and different cities. Both cities are full of their own charm, and both have been very inspiring to me in different ways. I grew up in Korea, so I’m more influenced by Korean culture in terms of the way I think and the language, but it was in the US where I really started to pursue art. I was able to explore art more freely in New York with its huge art scene, various art fairs, galleries, and artists, and this has greatly influenced my work today. Both cities have influenced me in different ways. Seoul has influenced me as a person, and New York has influenced my artistic work.
“I’ve lived in cities all my life, so I have a longing for nature.”
Your work is based on photography, yet it becomes a moving, abstract image. Can you explain to us your creative process? How does the transition from the captured image to the final composition come about?
I’ve been drawing since I was a kid. In my teenage years, I mostly painted in oils, and I loved the freedom to express whatever I imagined on the canvas. Then I started photography and applied my painting style to the medium of photography. I took a series of photographs and used tools like Photoshop to create short videos, and then I moved on to working with footage shot in video format.
Jinsil Lee. Sunset Town, 2018
Scenes from daily life and natural landscapes are sources of inspiration in your work. What are you most attracted to? Do you consider the scenes in front of you in terms of their aesthetics (colors, light, movement) or do you also consider their context, the meanings and stories that underlie the image you are capturing?
I’ve lived in cities all my life, so I have a longing for nature. I work and live in a big building in the city, but I question every day whether this environment is right for our bodies and minds, so when I’m close to nature, I feel an indescribable sense of awe. I think about this a lot, especially when I’m at the beach and I’m looking at the water moving like it’s breathing and the sunlight shining on it, and I realize that it’s so much like a human being, and I think about how long they must have traveled to get to where I am, and I think about how the moment that I’m in with them feels like a miracle, and it’s amazing. The visual beauty in front of me inspires me, but I think it’s probably the backstory that has a bigger impact on me.
Jinsil Lee. 20 18, 2018
Abstract art seeks the essence of things and at the same time removes the viewer from any reference to a specific time or space. What do you find most interesting about focusing on abstraction? What do you think that might be missing from the first-hand experience you get while capturing the original images?
I think there’s a lot of power in abstract art, and the reason I loved painting as a kid was that I was free to express my thoughts on a white canvas. I think abstract art, similar to the experience of painting, gives the audience a bigger room to run around in by removing the boundaries, and that’s the power of abstract art, that other people can see what I’ve imagined and they can develop their own imagination. That’s how we connect through art, and I think it’s very similar to nature, where everything is connected organically. So I try to make the forms as minimal as possible, and then I use the power of color to replace them, so that the audience doesn’t see them in their rawest state, but on the other hand, they see them in their most basic, unclothed form.
”The power of abstract art is that other people can see what I’ve imagined and they can develop their own imagination.”
Water, oceans, fluids, are common elements in your work. This is often combined with symmetrical structures, creating a certain tension between order and chaos, staticity and fluidity. What do you find most interesting about this tension between opposites? Could there be one without the other?
I love the book White by Hara Kenya, and there’s a quote in it that goes something like this. “The black color of type is only truly valuable when it is paired with the white it is based on.” I believe that two opposites are more valuable when they coexist, like you can only feel joy when there is sadness, and that’s why I like to play with this idea. In fact, my biggest inspiration is nature, but capturing it as a pixel-based digital photograph and editing it through digital tools, I think this process is very similar to human life. There are quiet people and there are loud people, there are people like me who are good at drawing but not so good at talking, and there are people who are better at expressing themselves through words than through drawings. I think my artistic process is a lot like our lives, where we have these opposites living together.
Jinsil Lee. 4AM, 2019
While your compositions are abstract and rationally geometric, the titles of your artworks suggest a narrative, which in some cases is expressed with words, as in These Foolish Things. Can you elaborate on the use of narrative in your work?
One of the most important things in my life is music. I feel unimaginable happiness from a favorite song and can be immersed in that emotional state for long periods of time. So when I start listening to a song, I usually memorize the lyrics from start to finish, and then I take those lyrics and rearrange them or turn the words into something that expresses my thoughts and use them in my artwork. I think it’s interesting that in this process, I’ll be thinking about the song while looking at my work, but I’m taking the audience into a world that I’ve “recreated”.
“My artistic process is a lot like our lives, where we have these opposites living together”
Sound and music also play a role in your work, which is sometimes silent, and sometimes features a music score or the sounds of the environment you recorded. Can you tell us a bit more about the connection between images and sound, and what leads you to choose whether the piece will be silent, with music, or ambient noise?
I often meditate, and sometimes music helps me to focus, and sometimes I’m able to focus more deeply when there is no sound at all. When I work on my art, I feel similar to when I meditate, sometimes I work with music and sometimes I work in a silent environment. For each piece, I choose sound to support the audience’s visual experience, and sometimes I choose silence so that the audience can focus on the visual experience alone.
Jinsil Lee. In Your Orbit, 2019
The growing influence of AI in the visual arts offers artists the possibility to work with source material that doesn’t exist, but is created by a prompt. Are you interested in incorporating this technology into your work, for instance to start with an AI-generated video and then turn it into an abstract composition, or else use real footage and transform it with the aid of AI tools?
100%. I consider my work to be a 3 way collaboration between nature, myself and digital technology. I am quite interested in how digital cameras capture and read moments. For example, the actual color I remember is often not the same as the color the digital camera reproduces, but I find the process and how it works fascinating, so I use it as it was captured. In this context, the idea of AI generating an image based on the data it has stored over the years, with prompts from me, is very interesting.
“I want to create a work of art in which I and the AI imagine a universe that I can’t actually photograph.”
It’s a vague idea, but I want to create a work of art in which I and the AI imagine a universe that I can’t actually photograph. If so, I’m very excited to see where that AI’s data comes from and how amazing it would be to see how it came to meet me.
This year has been full of excitement, marked by both challenges and remarkable achievements. We have welcomed new partnerships and expanded our team, working hard to achieve new milestones in our commitment to bring digital art to everyone, everywhere. We are thankful for the continued trust of our partners and investors, and look forward to exciting new projects in 2025.
In this article, we offer a brief reflection on what 2024 has been for us at Niio, along with a heartfelt thank you to all the artists, galleries, collectors, curators, and art enthusiasts who share and celebrate art with us.
Our latest showreel video offers a glimpse into the many ways Niio works to facilitate the experience and appreciation of digital art.
Artcasts: your space to discover art
Artcast are our curated selections of artworks that any Niio user can play on the screen of their choice, turning it into a digital art canvas. We consider artcasts a space in which art lovers and collectors can discover new artworks and experience them as they would in an art exhibition: on a dedicated screen. Our curated art program welcomes the latest creations by the artists on our platform, enabling them to share both works in progress and finalized series, available for sale on Niio and through their galleries. This year, we are proud to have launched 23 artcasts featuring the work of outstanding artists, as well as collaborations with galleries, art centers, and universities.
Here are some of our favorite artcasts this year, but you can find many more by browsing the Discover area in our app.
Marina Zurkow. Elixir I, 2009
WITCHCRAFT
We celebrated Halloween with this artcast that showcases the work of women artists who delve into themes and realms of knowledge historically associated with witchcraft accusations, such as natural sciences, the human body, the nature of reality, and the critique of established gender roles. In their art, traditional symbols of witchcraft—like potions, enigmatic transformations, dark forests, full moons, and magical incantations—transcend their historical connotations to become vibrant expressions of these artists’ creativity and insight.
Tamiko Thiel. Unexpected Growth (Whitney Museum Walk1), 2018
DIGITAL BY NATURE
We celebrated our ongoing collaboration with DAM Projects by hosting this artcast curated by Wolf Lieser in which the artworks of four artists and artist duos represented by DAM Projects bring us views of nature mediated by technology. Driessen and Verstappen’s visualization of the pace of nature dialogues with boredomresearch’s approach to nature as a system, while Eelco Brand applies a painstaking recreation of natural environments as fictional compositions and Tamiko Thiel plays with the seductive beauty of nature to bring forth concerns about our role in the pollution of the oceans.
“I love what Niio is doing. It allows you to really get involved without having to pay a large amount of money to own a piece. And you have the opportunity to experience a lot of different art.”
Wolf Lieser
ZEITGUISED. Gem Forest, 2024
ZEITGUISED: HYPERREAL
We recently renewed our collaboration with ZEITGUISED, the studio founded in 2001 by Henrik Mauler and Jamie Raap, that has been a long time collaborator of Niio. ZEITGUISED has crafted a distinctive style of animation that serves as their hallmark, evident both in the elements they depict and in the flowing, organic movements of their characters, whether floating gemstones, a pink moon, phantasmagoric garments, or abstract, liquid forms. The artcast Hyperreal presents a selection of ZEITGUISED’s short films, progressively traversing the boundary between photorealism and abstraction. This collection features newly reimagined versions of select works, produced exclusively for Niio.
Chun Hua Catherine Dong. Meet Me Halfway – part 1, 2021
Artists: the core of creativity
Niio was founded with a core mission: to support and empower artists. Our platform provides them with a secure and efficient way to manage and showcase their portfolios, enabling seamless sharing with collectors, galleries, institutions, and art enthusiasts. Beyond this, we actively recommend their works to clients in our Art in Public program, feature their latest creations through our Curated Art initiatives, and build deeper connections by sharing their stories in the conversations published in our Editorial section. This year, we’ve launched more than 20 solo artcasts and a dozen group shows, as well as highlighted 41 selected artworks in our Artwork of the Week showcase on social media. We’ve also introduced the Artist of the Month post in our social media accounts, aiming to highlight the career of some of the most outstanding artists in our platform. In addition to this, we’ve published 15 interviews with the artists in our curated program, as part of our commitment to let our audience know the creators behind the art.
These are some of the artists we’ve showcased this year. We’d love to include them all here, but you can find them in our Discovery area.
MOONWALKER
Over the last two decades, the Brussels-based Colombian artist has carried out a consistent body of work in the form of interactive audiovisual installations and lThe creative duo Moonwalker (Dany Vo and Vy Vo) has its roots in the worlds of graphic design and illustration, where they honed their skills in creating mesmerizing artistic compositions exploring nature and fashion.
A contemporary artist, developer and an interaction designer, Ronen Tanchum has developed a body of work that explores the representation of natural phenomena and our perception of reality as it is mediated by the entertainment industry and digital media.
Polina Bulgakova is a digital 3D artist who has developed her practice since 2020. Working in the “surrealistic realism” style, Polina crafts visual narratives that challenge the constraints of real-world physics, inviting audiences to think beyond conventional limits and embrace the possibility that anything is achievable
Dev Harlan is a New York-based artist whose work in sculpture, installation, and digital media explores the interplay between technology, nature, and the impact of human activity on our planet.
Tahn (Taeyoung Ahn, born in South Korea, 1967) is a multifaceted media artist, technologist, writer, and art educator with an extensive career that spans multiple disciplines.
Andreas Nicolas Fischer’s Nethervoid 07 L 2116 showcased in one of the suites at the Tempo Times Square hotel in New York. Photo courtesy of Tempo by Hilton.
Public showcases: where art shines
Working closely with leading contemporary art galleries and establishing partnerships with premium business and hospitality venues is central to our goal of bringing exceptional video and digital art to top-tier spaces and seamlessly incorporating art into daily life. We are proud to have developed strong ties with leading digital art galleries bitforms (New York), Galerie Charlot (Paris), and DAM Projects (Berlin), as well as with many other professional art galleries, and to provide curated art selections to some of the most prestigious brands and properties, such as Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Tempo by Hilton, The Mondrian Hotel Seoul Itaewon, Aloft Hotels, and many others.
Below are some highlights of a very busy year with wonderful collaborations and promising partnerships. You can find more about our activities on our LinkedIn and Instagram accounts.
Niio x SMTH Open Call for Art Students showcase at Plenilunio shopping mall, Madrid.
NIIO x SMTH: THE WORLD(S) WE WANT
Niio partnered with SMTH in an open call for art students that brought the work of five selected artists to more than 30 screens in several shopping malls located in major cities in Spain. We were grateful to count on the collaboration of artist and researcher Snow Yunxue Fu and the jury members Wolf Lieser, founder of DAM Projects, Valentina Peri, independent curator, and the artist Solimán López. The five winning artists, Bruno Tripodi, Cruda Collective, Rolin Yuxing Dai, Cosette Reyes, and Katsuki Nogami, saw their work displayed in spectacularly large screens in the public space. Crucial to the success of the open call was the generous support of LED&GO, as well as Laba Valencia, ESDi, New York University, Université Paris 8, BAU, and Elisava, among other schools and universities.
Steven Sacks and Rob Anders at the Fireside Chat hosted by Ideaworks. Photo: Ideaworks
DIGITAL ART WEEK LONDON
Niio’s co-founder and CEO Rob Anders participated, alongside Steve Sacks, founder and owner of bitforms gallery (New York), in a fireside chat hosted by Ideaworks during the Digital Art Week in London. This highly successful event featured a pop-up exhibition of a curated selection of artworks by Refik Anadol, Quayola, Marina Zurkow, Claudia Hart, and Jonathan Monaghan, all of the represented by bitforms.
TALKING GALLERIES
Our Senior Curator Pau Waelder was invited to participate in this year’s edition of Talking Galleries Symposium in Barcelona, making this the third time he is featured in the program of this well-known event. Waelder moderated a panel talk on “Creating and Selling Digital Art in the Age of AI” with the speakers Anne Schwanz, from Office Impart gallery (Berlin), and the artists Carlo Zanni (Milano) and Daniel Canogar (Madrid).
ART BASEL WEEK, PARIS
Our co-founder and CEO Rob Anders gave an interesting talk about collecting digital art to a professional audience during the Art Basel week in Paris. The talk was hosted by DANAE and lead by curator Rachel Chicheportiche. This event was also a wonderful occasion to showcase the work of Quayola, Yoshi Sodeoka, Ronen Tanchum, and Jonathan Monaghan.
ANTHROPOSCENES
A digital art program taking place during the whole year at the facade of Lo Pati Centre d’Art de les Terres de l’Ebre (Amposta, Spain) has been a wonderful opportunity to showcase the work of six talented artists whose work is available on Niio. Marina Zurkow, Claudia Larcher, Diane Drubay, Kelly Richardson, Yuge Zhou and Theresa Schubert have produced audiovisual artworks that offer us, from different perspectives, scenes of life in the Anthropocene, particularly those environments and systems that we ignore but that play a determining role in life on Earth. From the ocean floor to the mines from which the materials that enable our digital life are extracted, from glaciers to atmospheric phenomena, from forest fires to crowded cities, these works lead us to reflect on our planet, the world in which we want to live and what we will leave to the next generations.
Articles: art in theory, art in conversation
This section forms a cornerstone of Niio’s work, offering a platform for documentation, reflection, and dialogue with artists, gallerists, and art professionals, while also serving as a hub for insights and discussions on key topics in contemporary art. This year, we learned a lot about the artist’s creative processes, and particularly the expectations of young artists who are still in the final phase of their studies.
Read some of our most commented articles this year and find many more by browsing our Editorial section.
📝 Jaime de los Ríos: Sculpting Infinity Interview with Jaime de los Rios, visual artist and programmer whose work blends contemporary art, science and technology, creating immersive environments and generative works, often in collaboration with other artists, scientists and engineers.
📝 Franz Rosati: The Collapse of Truth Artist Franz Rosati discusses his latest series DATALAKE: GROUNDTRUTH (2024) in which he worked with AI models to generate mesmerizingly fluid landscapes that evoke chaos and disaster, but also regeneration and impermanence.
📝 Niio x SMTH: The World(s) We Want A series of interviews with the winning artists of the Open Call for Art Students revealed the creative processes and expectations of young artists with a bright future ahead: Katsuki Nogami, Rolin Dai, Cruda Collective, Bruno Tripodi, and Cosette Reyes.
This is just a glimpse of what Niio has been in 2024. We look forward to doing much more in 2025, and we’d love to share our journey with you!
Dev Harlan is a New York-based artist whose work in sculpture, installation, and digital media explores the interplay between technology, nature, and the impact of human activity on our planet. His practice delves into themes such as landscape, anthropogenic change, and technological consumption, prompting viewers to question the often-assumed separation between human societies and the natural world. Harlan’s work invites audiences to see technology as embedded within, and inseparable from, the environment rather than as an external force.
Harlan’s work has been exhibited across the United States and internationally, with solo exhibitions in New York at the Christopher Henry Gallery and Gallery Madison Park. He has been included in international group shows such as “Noor” at the Sharjah Art Museum, the New Museum’s “Ideas City” in New York, and the Singapore Light Art Festival. Recognized for his contributions to digital media arts, Harlan was a 2020 NYFA Fellowship Finalist and won a 2022 Mozaik Artist Grant. His work is included in the permanent collections of corporate and private collectors, underscoring his impact and appeal.
Dev Harlan has launched on Niio his most recent series of artworks, Speculative Cores, which offer a compelling visual metaphor of the effects of our consumerist society on the environment. In this interview, he elaborates on the concepts and the processes behind his work.
Dev Harlan. Speculative Cores (Internet of Bubble Mailers), 2024
This new series explores the impact of our consumerist society on our planet, made evident in the growing amounts of waste that we are producing. It is obviously connected to your previous work exploring geology and terraformation. Can you elaborate on the connections between your previous work and this series?
Much of my work has a geological theme motivated by travels and residencies in the desert, and more recently my continuing education in Earth Science. When studying the landscape it is difficult to ignore the effects of anthropogenic change. The most obvious in the desert being strip mines, of which I have visited many. These are inextricably linked to technology –every single electronic device, battery or screen contains elements that must be extracted from the Earth.
In my previous moving image artworks I have worked with this theme of global resource extraction and the myth of limitless consumption through the juxtaposition of landscape elements and technological debris. This new work “Speculative Cores” is just one step adjacent where I am expressing this theme through the language of geoscience, specifically the well known form of the geological core sample. Technology is seen buried in stratigraphic layers with the rocks and minerals of which it is made.
“Every single electronic device, battery or screen contains elements that must be extracted from the Earth.”
The artworks present a series of 3D-scanned elements including sand and stone, as well as plastics and e-waste. Can you describe the process of creation?
In some ways this begins from a habit of collecting things. I have boxes of jars and bottles containing sand samples I have collected from all over the world, wherever I travel. Rocks also. I also have accumulations of electronic junk in the studio, and sometimes collect more from recycling centers and the vast amounts of waste left on sidewalks and loading docks throughout NYC.
In my process of 3D scanning artworks in the studio I began mixing materials–studies or works in progress with sand and rocks and broken electronics. For the core samples series I layer all these diverse materials in a large acrylic cylinder and create a scan of the cylinder. The scans are then further combined and composed with each other using digital tools.
“Our landfills will one day be parts of mountains, with cell phones, cars, bricks and diapers. We may ask with seriousness, is that the record we wish to leave behind?”
Composing these 3D scans as cylinders that evoke geological core samples gives a powerful message, suggesting that all this trash and debris will remain on our planet long after our present time. Do you think that viewers will grasp the meaning of the core sample as a testimony of a process of centuries, or millenia?
Certainly that is the intention, and indeed many of the proposed definitions of the Anthropocene epoch attempt to define a specific place in the geological record where humans have already left indelible traces, such as increased CO2 concentrations in stone, or radioactive particles from nuclear weapons testing.
I see many artists examining this form of the core cylinder, in what has been termed the ‘geological turn’, as it is a widely recognized shorthand for our ability to understand Earth history through the geosciences. In a real sense a core can be considered a dataset that records hundreds of thousands or even millions of years. But so also is the side of a mountain. Our landfills will one day be parts of mountains, with cell phones, cars, bricks and diapers. We may ask with seriousness, is that the record we wish to leave behind?
Dev Harlan. Speculative Cores (Alabaster Quickcam), 2024
Besides the conceptual aspect of putting these elements together, there is a clear attention to aesthetics, as is also evidenced in your previous series Hegemony of Screensavers. Which aesthetic decisions influenced the making of these compositions?
The photogrammetry scanning process comes with a lot of artifacts and unpredictability and there is a tension between wanting to embellish or “improve” the scan versus letting the model be what it is. I think I take a cue here from Hito Steryerl’s “poor image” theory in that leaving the artifacts and distortions in the scanning process helps tell the story of what the artwork is and how it came to be. The model simply rotates through the frame against a solid field to achieve a sort of literalness in presenting a 3D scan as precisely what it is.
At the other end of this tension I do want to add some uncanniness or departure from reality, as the artwork is still only a facsimile of the real. The trailing after image I use a lot also has a sort of literalness to it – the incremental temporality of time base art. It also provides emergent aesthetic properties and a sort of elegance in pattern and form that I find satisfying. Part of the strategy is to draw in a viewer’s attention with an aesthetic appeal which, on closer inspection, may communicate a more difficult story about the entanglement of nature and technological civilizations.
“I aim to achieve a sort of literalness in presenting a 3D scan as precisely what it is, but I also do want to add some uncanniness or departure from reality, as the artwork is still only a facsimile of the real.”
Dev Harlan. Speculative Cores (Salt Lake Slab), 2024
The creative duo Moonwalker (Dany Vo and Vy Vo) has its roots in the worlds of graphic design and illustration, where they honed their skills in creating mesmerizing artistic compositions exploring nature and fashion. Through the technique of digital collage, the artists generate fantastic worlds populated by flowers, plants, and human beings in idyllic harmony. Infused with gracile movements, their compositions are visually seductive and deeply inspiring, as is demonstrated by their growing number of followers and the interest in their work, which is expanding widely around the globe.
Niio is proud to present a selection of their work focused on nature and inspired by their personal experience with plants and flowers. The artcast Floral Propagationcollects several pieces created with AI models, while a series ofcatalogsoffer selected limited editions to art collectors. In the following interview, the artists elaborate on the concepts and motivations behind their work.
Moonwalker. Vivid Petals Collection #3, 2024
As illustrators and graphic designers, you have a keen sense of aesthetics and an instinct to create alluring visual compositions. This is apparent in your artistic work, which denotes a conscious selection of color palettes and use of balance and symmetry. How important is this compositional aspect of your work?
We prioritize creating visually compelling compositions with strong contrasts, bold shapes, and carefully selected color palettes. In today’s saturated digital landscape, we aim for instant impact—artwork that prompts viewers to pause and engage deeply. Despite our maximalist appearance, our principle of “less is more” guides us in every element choice, ensuring each detail serves a purpose. This compositional approach not only defines our visual style but also influences our subject matter selection, allowing us to effectively convey narratives and evoke emotions that resonate profoundly with our audience.
“In today’s saturated digital landscape, we aim for instant impact—artwork that prompts viewers to pause and engage deeply.”
You work with digital collage, in a way that is very much in line with a visual culture saturated with images. Would you say that nowadays it only makes sense to create a new image by appropriating existing content? And when you create your own libraries, do you elaborate an internal logic for the use of these elements, to develop your own visual vocabulary?
Our approach to digital collage began with a fascination for historical botanical drawings, which often go underappreciated in today’s visual culture despite their rich detail and historical significance. These assets, now freely accessible, sparked our desire to reinterpret them through animated digital art, bridging the gap between traditional artistry and modern visual expressions. As we developed our own libraries of visual elements, including more than just botanical illustrations, we established an internal logic to guide their integration. This process has evolved organically into a collage style, shaped through continuous experimentation and refinement. Each element is carefully chosen to contribute to our unique visual vocabulary, ensuring that every composition tells a compelling visual story.
Moonwalker. In Bloom Collection #2, 2024
“Our approach to digital collage began with a fascination for historical botanical drawings. As we developed our own libraries of visual elements, we established an internal logic to guide their integration.”
Your work deals with visions of nature. Currently most of us live in urban environments surrounded by domesticated forms of nature: trees bordering the sidewalks, parks designed for our leisure, pot plants at home. Is the representation of nature through art another form of domestication? Why do you think that we are so moved by the representation of nature?
The domesticated forms of nature that surround us in urban environments serve as essential sanctuaries for contemplation and connection. Through our art, we aim to capture and convey the profound bond we feel with nature—the way it enables us to reconnect with our true selves and harmonize our inner and outer worlds. Our artworks are a manifestation of this bond, translated into visual elements that we are privileged to share with others. We believe that representations of nature in art resonate deeply because they evoke this universal longing for connection and renewal. By exploring and interpreting nature through our creative lens, we hope to move our audience as profoundly as we ourselves are moved by the beauty and tranquility of the natural world.
Moonwalker. Vivid Petals Collection #4, 2024
“Through our art, we aim to capture and convey the profound bond we feel with nature”
Given your personal experience in caring for plants, how do you think this love for the natural environment can be communicated through your work?
We bring a similar love for nature into our artwork. Like plant enthusiasts, we select flowers with interesting forms and colors. This careful curation is central to our creative process, where we combine these elements into harmonious compositions. Occasionally, we create unique, imaginary flowers, always rooted in our methodical approach. Animation adds depth to our work, enriching the visual storytelling of our pieces.
Moonwalker. In Bloom Collection #1, 2024
In the series presented on Niio, the animations depict different species of flowers that have been created through AI-assisted digital collage. The digital medium allows you to create anything you can imagine, and while the compositions are quite spectacular, the flowers seem mostly realistic. Why did you choose to retain this level of realism instead of creating purely fantastical plants?
Artificial Intelligence is indeed integral to our creative process, but we approach its use with a specific vision in mind. While AI allows us to explore limitless possibilities in digital collage, our goal isn’t to create purely fantastical plants. Instead, we harness AI to achieve a balance: realistic blooming flowers that resonate authentically with viewers. This realism is essential because it aligns with our artistic intent to capture the beauty of natural blooms, akin to what we might capture in real-life footage. Creating such footage would typically demand extensive time, resources, and effort that are not always feasible for us. Therefore, AI serves as a tool to manifest our artistic vision effectively, ensuring our animations evoke a genuine connection with the natural world.
Moonwalker. Vivid Petals Collection #1, 2024
AI programs provide immense possibilities of creation to artists, yet they tend to generate similar aesthetics, as it has been made apparent with the progression from the algorithmic pareidolia of Google’s DeepDream to the blurry “paintings” created with GANs and now the morphing animations made possible by current AI models. As artists, how do you find your visual style and aesthetics within these ongoing trends?
Our focus is on depicting nature authentically, rather than following AI trends. While AI offers many creative possibilities, we prefer to use it as a tool to enhance our vision, not dictate it. We find inspiration in discovering new flowers and natural beauty, aiming to create artworks that are unique to our own style and perspective.
“While AI offers many creative possibilities, we prefer to use it as a tool to enhance our vision, not dictate it.”
Your work also connects with the world of fashion. What do you find most interesting about fashion as a creative field and a material for your artistic creations? Since both the representation of nature and the human body are visually very attractive, how do these two elements compete in your creations? Fashion inspires us for its creative blend of innovation and aesthetic expression. The Dutch fashion designer Iris Van Herpen, particularly, deeply influences us with her designs that intertwine with nature. In our art, we see nature and the human body not as competing elements but as complementary. Nature offers timeless beauty and intricate details, while the human body provides expressive form and emotion. We integrate these elements to explore themes of identity and connection, creating compositions where botanical motifs and human forms harmoniously interact. This approach invites viewers to reflect on the profound relationship between humanity and the natural world.
