When Aunties Met AI
Our Guest-NiceAunties
Niceaunties is a contemporary artist and designer based in Singapore. Drawing inspiration from the influential women in her family and the distinct 'auntie culture,' her work explores themes of ageing, beauty, personal freedom, and everyday life through AI and digital art.
Her life experiences and architectural training inform the conceptual basis of her pieces, while her focus on the nuanced behaviours of 'aunties' highlights the culture prevalent in Asian communities. Influenced by surreal art, fantasy, and kawaii culture, Niceaunties' art champions empowerment and self-expression.
The niceaunties project was presented in a TED talk in Vancouver in 2024. The project has been showcased globally, including exhibitions at the Louisiana Museum in Denmark, Digital Art Mile during Art Basel 2024, PhotoVogue Milan 2023, Expanded.Art Gallery Berlin 2024 and V&A in London during the digital art weekend 2024.
Niceaunties was commissioned by the City of West Hollywood for a public artwork ‘Aunties on Sunset’ , which was exhibited on a billboard at Sunset Boulevard from June to September 2024. Niceaunties contributed to Christie's 'Creating Connections' charity auction in 2023 and recently exhibited her collection Along the River in Auntieverse at Christie’s 2024 Art + Tech conference in New York City. Her art has been featured in the Straits Times, Forbes and the Guardian.
“Everything we create is built upon what came before us - AI just makes that process faster.””
— NiceAunties
About the Episode
In Singapore, “auntie” is a word everyone knows. It can mean warmth, care, or nosy advice - sometimes all at once. But for artist NiceAunties, this word became something more: a way to tell stories about identity, love, and aging using the tools of the future: artificial intelligence.
Her surreal, colorful works have taken her from wet markets and hawker centers to Paris, Basel, Los Angeles, and even the TED stage.
Through AI, she transforms the aunties of her childhood into dreamlike scenes - women pushing a giant onion up a volcano, lounging in bowls of ramen, or relaxing with acupuncture needles that bloom into flowers.
What began as a personal exploration has turned into a global conversation about culture and creativity.
Growing Up in the Auntie Universe
NiceAunties grew up in 1980s Singapore, raised by her grandmother and a house full of aunties. There was no internet then, just long afternoons filled with books, TV, and imagination. Everything changed when one aunt introduced her to Japanese manga. “Doraemon changed everything,” she says. “It opened up my imagination.”
Years later, trained in architecture and design, she found in AI a new way to bring those early fantasies to life. “When I first used it, I felt like I had power,” she recalls. “I could finally create what I imagined.”
She starts with an idea and breaks it into scenes. Using text-to-image AI, she builds visuals, then adds motion, music, and sound - all generated by AI tools. What once required a full film crew now takes her a week.
Turning a Stereotype into Art
In Singapore and across Asia, no one wants to be called an “auntie.” It’s often seen as old-fashioned or unglamorous. But NiceAunties decided to flip that idea on its head.
Her “Antiverse” celebrates aunties as symbols of humor, care, and quiet power: women who hold families and neighborhoods together but rarely get recognition. “I’ve seen so much creativity and kindness in my aunties,” she says. “They showed their love in a thousand ways.”
Her piece The Onion captures that spirit: a group of aunties push a massive onion up a volcano - and when they reach the top, it transforms into onion rings. It’s absurd, funny, and deeply human.
AI as Partner, Not Threat
For NiceAunties, AI is not replacing creativity - it’s expanding it. “It’s like working with a team,” she says. “Only this team never gets tired.”
She compares it to her architecture days, where each team member contributed ideas. AI, she explains, does the same: generating unexpected results that spark new directions. “People say it’s lazy or cheating, but it’s really about momentum. You can explore an idea twenty times faster.”
She also acknowledges the debates around AI art and copyright. “It’s complicated,” she says. “But everything we create is built on what came before. If someone’s inspired by my work, I’m flattered.”
From Singapore to the World
While her art is deeply rooted in Singapore, NiceAunties has found her biggest audiences abroad. Western galleries have embraced her unique, Asian-inspired aesthetic; though she believes Asia’s own AI art scene is catching up fast. “Japan, Korea, and China are already leading the way,” she says.
Recently, she collaborated with L’Oréal on Spring Skin, a giant sculpture of an auntie’s face covered in plants: a symbol of beauty and renewal.
This September, her art will light up Oxford Street in London, followed by a showcase at Paris Photo, one of the world’s leading photography fairs.
The Auntie in All of Us
Beneath the humor and surrealism, NiceAunties’ work carries something timeless: the reminder that love, aging, and community are worth celebrating. “There’s an auntie in all of us,” she says, smiling. “Even the men.”
Through her blend of technology and tenderness, she shows that AI can be a bridge - not between machines and humans, but between generations, memories, and cultures.
