Selected digital works · 2026

Zhihui ChenSystems, memory and imagined ecologies.

Fourteen original AI-assisted works across competition, exhibition and independent project contexts. Each piece begins with a written concept and records how generative tools were used.

The Afternoon the Answering Machine Forgot, 202601

Heisei, AI Does Not Know · second submission · 2026

The Afternoon the Answering Machine Forgot

On a humid summer afternoon, an answering machine, a blank fax, a paused fan and melting barley tea remain in an empty room. AI can reconstruct the objects and light of Heisei, but not the erased voice or the time spent waiting for it.

AI use disclosure

Newly generated with OpenAI image generation from an original prompt written for this exhibition. No reference image, existing artwork, photograph, brand, logo, character or external asset was used.

Night Without a Connection, 202602

Heisei, AI Does Not Know · 2026

Night Without a Connection

A blue CRT glow, clamshell phone, scratched disc and wet umbrella remain after communication stops. AI can arrange the objects of an era, but it cannot remember why someone waited that night.

AI use disclosure

Newly generated with OpenAI image generation from an original text prompt. No reference image, existing artwork, photograph, character, brand or logo was used or composited.

The Unnamed Interval, 202603

The Post-Meaning Prize 2026 · 2026

The Unnamed Interval

A transparent room, warm suspended stone and broken vermilion thread occupy a tidal plane. The image treats meaning as a threshold: visible, permeable and never fully resolved.

AI use disclosure

Generated with OpenAI image generation from an original prompt; the concept, title, palette, composition and final selection were human-directed, with no source image or third-party artwork.

The Garden That Remembers Tomorrow, 202604

Free Art Space KYOTO / Digital & AI Art Prize · 2026

The Garden That Remembers Tomorrow

Charred cedar, stone, moss, water and translucent structures form a living archive. An unfinished passage asks what cultural memory should preserve, transform or allow to disappear.

AI use disclosure

Created under the artist direction with OpenAI image generation. No supplied reference image, third-party artwork, copyrighted character or logo was used.

Brackish Threshold, 202605

Tidal Memory Index / C4CCI Art X Space · 2026

Brackish Threshold

An oxidised copper and saline-glass ring stands over a dark tidal flat. A single distant light turns the threshold into the point where a shoreline becomes an archive.

AI use disclosure

Generated specifically for this series from an original prompt; concept, constraints, selection, sequence and presentation were directed by the artist.

Sediment Choir, 202606

Tidal Memory Index / C4CCI Art X Space · 2026

Sediment Choir

Five mineral-glass columns hold shell, reed, netting, pebble and copper fragments. Together they form a quiet, unlabelled catalogue of a changing shore.

AI use disclosure

Generated specifically for this series from an original prompt; no named style, copyrighted character, brand or third-party image reference was used.

Borrowed Weather, 202607

Tidal Memory Index / C4CCI Art X Space · 2026

Borrowed Weather

A storm cloud rains into a transparent basin on a wet seawall. The temporary specimen suggests a human attempt to measure weather without pretending it can be kept.

AI use disclosure

Generated from an original prompt, then reviewed and selected through a human-led editorial process.

Afterimage of Return, 202608

Tidal Memory Index / C4CCI Art X Space · 2026

Afterimage of Return

Sea glass, dark stone and fine copper veins converge on a small beacon. The floating form closes the series with a fragile image of return rather than a literal map.

AI use disclosure

Generated from an original prompt; the artist directed the series structure, exclusions, selection and final presentation.

The Unautomated Conversation, 202609

Vanguard Open 2026 · AI-assisted digital artwork · 2026

The Unautomated Conversation

A protected face-to-face exchange in an AI-rich classroom, placing empathy, trust and human judgment at the center of learning.

AI use disclosure

Created with OpenAI image generation through human-directed concept, composition, constraints and selection; no identifiable person, brand, character or pre-existing artwork was used as a reference.

Symbio Seed, 202610

AI-assisted digital artwork · 2026

Symbio Seed

A speculative seed system that carries biological memory and machine-readable care instructions.

AI use disclosure

Original AI-assisted digital artwork developed through artist-authored concept, prompt direction, selection and review.

Future Garden Treaty, 202611

AI-assisted digital artwork · 2026

Future Garden Treaty

A civic garden where human planning, natural growth and computational systems negotiate a shared future.

AI use disclosure

Original AI-assisted digital artwork developed through artist-authored concept, prompt direction, selection and review.

The Last Warm Signal, 202612

NEXT ART AI 2026 · AI-assisted digital artwork · 2026

The Last Warm Signal

A quiet signal persists after the network has gone dark, holding the trace of a human promise.

AI use disclosure

Generated with OpenAI image generation from an original concept and text direction; no source photographs, stock images, real-person likenesses or third-party visual assets were used.

Archive of Rain, 202613

AI-assisted digital artwork · 2026

Archive of Rain

Rain is treated as an archive: every reflection stores a temporary record of the city and its inhabitants.

AI use disclosure

Original AI-assisted digital artwork developed through artist-authored concept, prompt direction, selection and review.

Harmony Engine, 202614

AI-assisted digital artwork · 2026

Harmony Engine

An imagined instrument translating conflict, rhythm and difference into a balanced field of light.

AI use disclosure

Original AI-assisted digital artwork developed through artist-authored concept, prompt direction, selection and review.

Process record

Concept first. Tool disclosed.

The artist defines the subject, symbolic structure, atmosphere, palette and spatial relationships, then uses OpenAI image generation to render the composition. Outputs are reviewed against the brief and are presented with an explicit AI-use disclosure. No living artist or protected franchise style is requested.

Archive of Rain creation-process record
Example process record for “Archive of Rain”.