Presented by ArtVerse Gallery | Curated by Grida

In Mirror into Auntieverse, the act of photography is redefined as an encounter between light, technology, and cultural memory. Produced in collaboration with Load Gallery, the installation transforms a 19th-century Napoleon III mirror into an interactive screen that reflects the visitor’s body while replacing their face with that of an “auntie” from the artist’s speculative Auntieverse. Motion capture and real-time rendering bring each auntie to life as she delivers candid, affectionate remarks, an articulation of what the artist calls the “auntie love language,” where humour and bluntness conceal deep care.

The work draws upon art-historical traditions of reflection, from Van Eyck to Manet, and Asian folklore in which mirrors reveal the soul. Playfully subverting the fairy-tale trope of “Mirror, mirror on the wall,” the installation turns vanity into self-awareness.

Accompanying the mirror are black-and-white AI-generated portraits presented in informal, domestic frames that recall 1970s studio photographs, alongside 13 animated auntie portraits minted on the Tezos blockchain. Together, they explore ageing, visibility, and empathy, affirming, as Niceaunties notes, that “there is an auntie in all of us.”