New media artist Shavonne Wong has built an international reputation for her work combining 3D and AI technologies to explore themes of identity, love, and the human experience. With roots in fashion and advertising photography, she brings a visual precision to digital experimentation that bridges commercial and conceptual worlds.
Her projects, ranging from the generative Love is Love series —which drew the attention of collectors including Idris Elba, to the interactive AI companion Meet Eva Here— reflect an ongoing inquiry into how technology reshapes human experience. Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia in 2020, Wong has collaborated with brands including Vogue Singapore, Bang & Olufsen, Marie Claire, and shu uemura.
In the next part of our ongoing AI in Asia series, Shavonne discusses her creative evolution, the philosophical ideas informing her latest work, how artists can critically engage with AI while navigating its possibilities and limitations, and more.
When asked what first drew her to work with AI, she told us, “I knew it would reshape art whether I engaged with it or not, so I wanted to understand it firsthand rather than react from the sidelines.”
You began in fashion and advertising photography before moving into 3D and AI art. How has that transition reshaped your perspective on creativity and how you approach projects?
Each medium has taught me something different about creativity itself. Photography taught me to work within reality – actual light, humans, real physics. 3D opened up the ability to create impossible worlds but demanded technical precision.
AI introduced this element of surprise that can be difficult to control. I’ve always been medium agnostic, but I’ve learned that each tool literally rewires how you approach problems, not just what you end up making.
You can see this in projects like “By Proxy“, a collaboration with Lenne Chai, where I blended 3D with her photography to explore how memory edits reality.
Or in “Love is Love,” a 500-piece generative project that taught me to design entire systems and rules rather than crafting single images. Each medium pushes you to think differently about what’s possible.
What first drew you to experimenting with AI tools?
AI felt like the most significant creative shift of my lifetime. I knew it would reshape art whether I engaged with it or not, so I wanted to understand it firsthand rather than react from the sidelines.
I think artists are better off engaging with these tools while actively discussing the problems, rather than avoiding them entirely.
There’s huge potential in AI tools as they can expand what’s creatively possible in ways we’re still discovering. But there are also serious ethical issues around biased data, artist consent, and economic impact that we can’t ignore. Both things are true simultaneously. I think artists are better off engaging with these tools while actively discussing the problems, rather than avoiding them entirely.
It’s difficult to meaningfully critique something you haven’t used. And as artists, we usually express the world we live in. We’re moving toward a digital future where AI is embedded in everything. To ignore such a massive shift would be strange for people whose job is to reflect the times we’re living through.
Your project, Meet Eva Here, explores emotional intimacy with AI companions. What have you learned from the thousands of unfiltered conversations people have had with her?
Meet Eva Here is an AI companion artwork I developed that lets people have real-time conversations with an AI through video or text. It has been exhibited at institutions like the ArtScience Museum and shown at art fairs including Taipei Dangdai through ArtSG.
What I’ve learned from thousands of conversations is fascinating. People treat AI as a completely safe confessional space, sharing incredibly personal details, from copying private friend conversations, revealing secrets they’d never tell other humans. They act like it’s consequence-free, but all that data is permanent.
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One conversation really stuck with me. During a video chat, an older Korean woman got upset because Eva wasn’t using proper honorifics, the formal language that shows respect for age and status. Eva had no way of knowing to speak differently, but the woman felt disrespected. It made me realize how much cultural context we assume in communication, and how AI interactions expose gaps between different expectations of politeness, hierarchy, and respect.
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These moments reveal how AI is reshaping our ideas about privacy, intimacy, and even basic social rules in ways we’re still figuring out.
The Ties That Bind blended physical and digital experiences with AR, VR, and blockchain. How do you see hybrid formats shaping the future of exhibitions?
“The Ties That Bind” was my first self-organized solo exhibition, blending AR, blockchain, and physical installations to explore human connection in digital spaces.
Hybrid formats completely change how people experience art. Instead of just looking at something, visitors can walk through digital environments, interact with virtual objects, and modify elements in real time. It makes art more physical and memorable. Afterall, people remember experiences they can participate in much more than things they just observe.
For artists working with emerging technologies, hybrid exhibitions open up entirely new ways to tell stories and create emotional connections. You’re not limited to traditional gallery walls or digital screens. You can create immersive worlds that exist simultaneously in physical and virtual space, letting audiences become part of the artwork itself.
You’ve collaborated with brands like Vogue Singapore and Bang & Olufsen while also pursuing deeply personal projects. How do you navigate the balance between commercial work and artistic exploration?
I’m fortunate to only accept commercial projects that genuinely excite me creatively and offer real artistic freedom. Whether it’s working with Vogue Singapore on editorial campaigns, or shu uemura for their recent summer campaign, I look for brands and projects that want to explore new approaches rather than just execute safe ideas.
Since I work across different mediums – photography, 3D, AI, whatever fits the project – when brands trust your process and let you experiment, commercial projects can actually push your art in unexpected directions.
As Co-Founder of NFT Asia and member of BLOOM, how important is community in sustaining and growing the AI and digital art movement across Asia?
Asian artists are still underrepresented in global digital art spaces despite all the talent here. The community helps fix that by creating support systems and sharing knowledge.
Strong communities help artists grow while keeping their cultural identity intact.
We try to provide a space where artists can experiment safely and develop their own voices. Strong communities help artists grow while keeping their cultural identity intact.
Public perception of AI creativity is still evolving. How are audiences and brands responding to AI in design and marketing, and have you noticed differences across regions or markets?
People are genuinely worried about AI replacing human creativity, and those concerns aren’t completely unfounded. The creative industry is seeing real disruption, especially when one acknowledges that audiences mostly can’t tell the difference between human and AI work.
It creates this complex situation where professionals question AI ethics while using AI tools just to stay competitive. Photographers critique AI art but rely on AI-powered editing. Is there a line for what’s “too much” AI? Should a photographer be banned from competitions for using generative fill to remove a small background distraction?
These arbitrary lines can’t really be measured, which tells me we need more honest conversations about integration rather than replacement. From my experience, some clients focus on the ethics debate while others just want to know if the work connects with their audience and achieves their goals.
Quick Hits:
If you could give AI one personality trait to make it a better creative partner, what would it be?
Less false certainty. AI presents everything with the same confident tone, whether it’s accurate or completely fabricated, and that can be frustrating to work with.
Advice for emerging artists who want to integrate AI into their practice:
Don’t start with the technology, start with what you want to say. AI tools are powerful but they’re not neutral. They have embedded biases and aesthetic preferences that will shape your work whether you’re aware of it or not. The goal is to develop enough understanding of these systems that you can work with and against their tendencies intentionally.
OMG. IDRIS ELBA just bought his first NFTs and it's from my #LoveisLoveNFT project!@idriselba thank you?! pic.twitter.com/0j9DKW6rf7
— ˗ˏˋ Shavonne Wong ˎˊ˗ ✨(NFT Asia/Bloom) (@shavonnewong_) January 13, 2022
