Emily Xie
-
Emily XieCresting Figure, 2024Digital Collage, Algorithmic Techniques and Textures with Javascript, Generative AI for Compositional Assets
"Cresting Figure" is a mixed digital media work that explores the space between abstraction and figuration, evoking a sense of movement, transformation, and cultural memory. The piece draws heavily from the visual traditions of Chinese embroidery: ornate detail, vibrant color palettes, and intricate patterns. It reinterprets these elements through the lens of contemporary digital practice. By integrating hand collage with algorithmic generation and AI-driven tools, the work becomes a layered synthesis of the traditional and the technological.
At its core, Cresting Figure reflects a dialogue between past and present. The embroidery-inspired patterns are not merely decorative; they serve as markers of cultural heritage, a practice once hand-stitched with intention and meaning. In this work, those motifs are fragmented and reassembled through digital processes. As these visual elements are recontextualized, a tension emerges—between rootedness and reinvention, tradition and transformation. Cresting Figure navigates a landscape of visual hybridity and layered histories, where inherited forms are continuously reshaped in contemporary expression.
The use of AI in this piece is not intended to depersonalize the creative process, but rather to extend it—echoing the collective, often anonymous labor behind traditional textile works. The process began with the generation of a wide array of images using AI, each one containing fragments of possibilities. Bits and pieces from these images were then digitally collaged to form a new visual foundation. This composite was subsequently run through custom JavaScript algorithms, introducing further layers of transformation. Though this step was algorithmic, the process remained tightly directed—shaped to yield specific juxtapositions and patterns that deepen the composition. The digital medium opens space for reimagining texture and form, where the known is refracted into something newly strange.6600 x 11000 pixels
53.3 x 88.9 cm
21 x 35 in -
“I really hope that generative art will land in a place one day where it’s taught in the art history books.”
Emily Xie is a visual artist and ex-software engineer. Her rich digital compositions combine her sharp creative eye and passion for art history with her deep knowledge of computer science. What's so striking about her work is just how textural it is. She brings together many different patterns and surfaces inspired by tangible forms of media like textiles, collage and embroidery. "When you're using code to mimic something that's deeply material and deeply textural, I think that's pretty fascinating," she says. And the results are transfixing. Her artworks perfectly balance opposing forces – randomness and control, structure and fluidity, abstraction and representation.
Despite her success in the art world and NFT space, Xie never expected to become a full-time artist. "Coming from an immigrant family meant that I carried a lot of the expectations that came of that. So I pursued a more practical path, which for me came in the form of software engineering." But art had always been a part of Xie's life. As a student at Havard, she even majored in Art History and Architecture. Ultimately, Xie had the best of both worlds: art and technology. Then, in 2021, a friend told Xie about NFTs. "It dawned on me that my favourite hobby could actually become my career", she later reflected. Since then, Xie has become a renowned generative artist with a dedicated collector community.
