Transporting visitors to colourful, dreamy worlds using AI technology, Berlin-based artist and interior designer Anna Cwik creates scenes of otherworldly wonder that exemplify imagination and creativity
Photography by Anna Cwik
ICON: What inspired you to become a designer?
ANNA CWIK: In my childhood, Sundays were church days. Sitting on the church bench for long hours, I thought about space and rituals. The relationship between the room and the people, and the atmosphere they mutually create, became an early topic of interest for me years later, leading me to scenography and later into interior design.
ICON: Do you remember when you started working with AI?
AC: I had my eureka moment when a friend showed me an earlier version of Midjourney last year – the images it could create were abstract and still quite far from realism. Still, I loved the imperfections and detailed textures it could make back then.
ICON: What are your favourite images from your collection?
AC: Plastic Bag Installation and Coal Installation – both images are simple yet striking visuals for big and complex topics. They also represent the process of working with image generators: to iterate a thought until a matching visual translation emerges from the many possibilities.
ICON: Your work blurs the lines between reality and fiction. Can you tell us more about working with AI?
AC: Imho image generators are the perfect tool to visualise atmospheres. On the one hand, the process is a “classical” iterative design process where ideas are visualised and discarded. On the other hand, the process is more of a co-creation because every iteration is a machine response. The process is never linear; dead-ends appear frequently and require a start from scratch.
Photography by Anna Cwik
ICON: Can you talk us through your work and process?
AC: I am approaching the AI tool with a clear idea for the content and visual language. The hard part is the visual language: sometimes, it takes hours or even days to create a sequence of prompts that drives the image generation into a direction I want. Midjourney never produces an identical image, even with the same prompt. In the newer Midjourney releases, I shifted my focus to describing materials and colours. Frequently, I can’t develop the desired result, so I discard the approach. Most of the images I like are post- processed before release.
ICON: What do you hope your images portray to the viewer?
AC: The images result from an ongoing investigation of tools and methods for displaying spaces/actors/objects that visualise atmospheres. The visions create various emotional responses; they seem to trigger a reaction – the atmospheres start to work. I love this facet of publishing the images online.
ICON: Who or what has been your biggest inspiration?
AC: I seek inspiration from all kinds of arts and media – while trying to avoid staying too close to my domain. The visual context for the AI topic is probably more immediate to film and photography, so names like Stanley Kubrick, Thomas Demand, and Juliusz Machulski come to my mind.
Photography by Anna Cwik
ICON: What current or future projects are you working on?
AC: “Anthropomorphism(s)” is an ongoing project – but I will release a new series investigating colour systems soon.
ICON: What impact do you hope to make in the world?
AC: The project is quite personal – I am already delighted it got some attention. I hope it shows a perspective on the work with AI tools that goes beyond a purely “technical” approach and adds some visual storytelling to the vastness of the AI image landscape. Designers and artists should impact and understand how AI is utilised – it’s our chance to “own” these technologies. After all, these tools use the works of other creatives as input data to synthesise new visual material.
ICON: Where can we follow you?
AC: You can follow me on Instagram via @annacwikstudio
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