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ISSN: XXXX-XXXX SPECIAL ISSUE 2025
This work is licensed under an Aribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.
reorder. This work invites the viewer to reflect on
this moment in time in an era of environmental,
This special issue of Future Earth Journal:
Explorations in Art and Generative AI showcases
the work of visual art students from the Fall 2024
Selected Topics visual art course Explorations in Art
and AI. Each featured artist engaged with genera-
tive artificial intelligence (Gen AI) to create original
artworks that respond to and reflect on current
conversations in art and technology. Through their
unique practices, these students explored Gen AI as
a tool, a collaborator, and/or a conceptual influence.
The artworks featured here—and in the exhibi-
tion held at the TRU Art Gallery from March 17–29,
2025—highlight the cultural, ethical, environmental,
and creative dimensions of using Gen AI in artistic
production.
Susan Miller is one of the participating artists
whose work exemplifies this exploration.
AI Tool: Dalle-E, Midjourney, & ChatGPT4
ARTIST STATEMENT
“Fragile Connections” is inspired by the con-
cept of “place” – in most cases marked by a physical
location in time and space invites you to consider
the broader connections and meaning in a world
that is on a precipice of expediential change and
FRAGILE CONNECTIONS
Susan Miller
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Thompson Rivers University, 2020
Figure 1. Fragile Connections (2024) by Susan Miller.
Mixed media. (Image credit: Twyla Exner)
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and information, and the proliferation of deceptive
narratives a determent not only to creative practice
but in the general use of AI. My experience of the
handcraed soothes a soul as nothing technologi-
cally can compare.
My hope is for anyone to take a quiet reflective
moment to consider what may be their relationship
to, Place. from all aspects of one’s relational under-
standing, whether that be a physical location, deeply
personal, or a broader perspective. With the addition
of lighting and sound the atmospheric nature of this
piece, I would most want the audience to elicit inter-
pretations that are their own.
This piece came out of a writing exercise where
I reflected on the meaning of, Place.
Place Considered
configured through a location on
earth, in sky, and space
refined by our passions, identities,
proclivities, and memories
boundless within the spiritual, mental,
emotional bodies of our psyche
Place demarcated through our con-
nections to those that live within the
landscape of our heart.
Process
Susan wanted to create a spherical shape ref-
erencing the earth and connection as a metaphor.
Some of the prompts she used are below and the
images generated by DALL-E are in figure . She then
asked Chat-GPT to instruct her on how to make the
artwork. It provided materials and techniques as
well as steps to follow. Susan followed those plans
to produce the work.
technological and political change. The installation
– an open, suspended sphere of painted strips inter-
acting between light and shadow mirrors the fragile
nature of our connections to ourselves, the world
and those we love.
Central to Fragile Connections is the question
to the viewer, what, where and who is, “Place” in the
expanse and consideration of the long view, whether
that be in our relationships to each other, the world
and ourselves. The sphere’s shape represents our
interconnectedness, the painted strips of green and
blue suggests the jewel that is earth and the ever-
present sky. The open structure invites the viewer
to consider their place and story in this moment in
time.
Working with AI on this project was enlight-
ening from multiple prospectives. From a practical
perspective the computational expediency of AI
was remarkably impressive. Its ability to generate
a wealth of ideas and oer diverse alterations to a
structure and imagery is endless. However, co-cre-
ating with AI for masterful results requires a solid
understanding of prompt engineering language.
Despite the benefits, I am deeply concerned about
AI usage about the ethical and moral implications
inherent at this juncture. The lack of policy and pro-
cedural transparency in AI processes is troubling. I
see the issue of uncredited contributions to images
Creating this work was a
blend of digital exploration
and hands-on crasmanship.
The idea and form, originating
from a previous edition was
an artwork that I was wanting
to render in a larger format. I
started with AI tools like Dal-
le-E, Midjourney, to help spark
ideas for shape and structure
of the piece. While I main-
tained my original iteration of
the structure, AI tools oered
instructions for a working
timeline, construction, and
assistance in troubleshooting
stability and transportation
issues.
suspended 3-D depicting earth met-
aphor, connection to all things green
and gold with thin golden wire laces
through, paper structure
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Figure 5. Original test artwork by Susan Miller that was fed to
DALL-E, Chat-GPT, and Midjourney as a reference image in ad-
dition to the text prompts provided. (Image credit: Susan Miller)
Figure 4. 25'x4' strips of paper painted on both sides to be cut
in strips for project.
Large-Scale Installation: Create a
larger, immersive installation with mul-
tiple suspended spheres or shapes,
allowing viewers to walk around and
through them.
Figure 2. Text prompts provided to DALL-E.
Figure 3. AI generated image results from ChatGPT and DALL-E
from prompts given from artist.
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Figure 6. Installation work in progress [in studio].
(Image credit: Susan Miller)
Figure 7. Fragile Connections (2024) [installation] by Susan Miller. Mixed media (Image credit: Twyla Exner)
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Fragile Connections (2024) [installation] by Susan Miller. Mixed media (Image
credit: Twyla Exner)
