Butterfly

The work is a four-part textile installation that explores the relationship between biomimicry, artificial intelligence, and hand weaving through the lens of gender equality data. The work was developed in response to the UN Women report The Gender Snapshot 2022, which states that, at the current pace, achieving gender equality may still require centuries.

The installation consists of four handwoven cotton textiles that together form the image of a butterfly, a symbol of continuous transformation and becoming. The color composition of each woven panel is generated from statistical data related to gender inequality, translating numerical information into a tactile and visual language.

For the development of the wing patterns, an algorithm was trained using microscope images of real butterfly scales. In nature, butterfly colors are produced not by pigments but through the reflective structure of their scales. Drawing from this phenomenon, recycled PET sequins were individually integrated into the weaving process by hand, creating a shimmering surface that changes according to light and movement. The resulting texture functions as a biomimetic interpretation of butterfly wings while emphasizing the material presence of labor and repetition.

Through the encounter between algorithmic systems and slow manual processes, the work reflects on the distance between institutional aspirations for equality and the gradual pace of social change. Statistical data is transformed into a handmade surface, where computation, craft, and embodied labor coexist within the same material structure.

photos by Chloe Pissa, Antonis Vlachos

• dimensions

  240 x 150cm

• exhibition

  CYFEST_17 organised and presented by CYLAND under the title Natura Naturans: Humans, Nature, Landscape

• year

  2025