Dream

Inspired by a dream my daughter woke up from, this piece captures the fragile line between safety and chaos. Within the concrete walls of imagined refuge, shadows linger. traces of humanity amid the overwhelming void. Outside, a consuming force rages, its presence felt yet undefined. This work explores themes of fear, memory, and the resilience of young minds, leaving viewers to ponder what we carry from dreams into waking life and what it means to seek shelter, both physical and emotional.

Goddess

The absence becomes a beginning. This work is based on an image of a goddess sculpture from Athens. From this silence, fragments of images emerge, fleeting and unresolved. Digital glitches and organic textures intertwine, where time and meaning are suspended. Death, rebirth, humanity, divinity—these concepts drift, undefined, like echoes in an ever-shifting matrix.

Silent Signal

In a space defined by absence, a quiet presence stands resilient. This work contemplates the unseen weight borne by the young and the ways it shapes identity, creating fissures that are both wounds and symbols of strength. The child holds a tall flagpole, its flag gently swaying—an element that is both the sole motion in the scene and a piercing interruption of stillness. The flutter of the flag hints at longing—a yearning for return, for belonging, for a home that feels just out of reach. Yet, the piece is leaving space for viewers to navigate its silences and draw their own meaning.

Chaos of the Real

A digital panorama fractures and reforms, blurring the line between the natural and the digital. vivid, chaotic, and layered with contradictions. Playful colors and swirling textures create a sense of wonder, yet an undercurrent of unease threads through the piece. Embedded within the chaos are fleeting traces of data—moments of truth obscured by motion. This work explores the tension between beauty and loss, joy and sorrow, asking: what stories lie hidden in the fragments, and what truths are too overwhelming to fully see?

It's an invitation to linger in the tension between clarity and obscurity, to find meaning not in the answers but in the questions left behind.

What phase will you catch?

Endless Echoes by @Antwoman | Transient Labs

This dynamic video NFT explores the concept of change and constant transformation. Composed of four interconnected vi...

https://www.transient.xyz

I love placing Antwoman into iconic works by the great masters, allowing her to speak to art history, women’s place within it, and culture at large. It’s a subversive act to introduce this hybrid figure—half woman, half ant—into the male-dominated canon of Western art, disrupting traditional narratives.

Banana-Ant continues this exploration. Here, Antwoman becomes the banana itself, both object and subject, blending humor and playfulness into the art. This playful approach speaks to the spirit of the Comedian, reflecting an embrace of life’s absurdity and joy.

Antwoman also explores themes of human supremacy over nature—a notion closely tied to the historical hierarchy of men over women. She embodies the integration of human-nature-technology, symbolizing a hybrid state of human evolution. As such, she’s a true cyborg, merging human, animal, and technology in a way that reshapes how we see identity and challenges outdated hierarchies.

More Antwoman art:
OG (sold out) Antwoman collection. 2021 https://opensea.io/collection/antwoman
Dawn of a New Gaze. generative art project. 2022 https://tr.ee/8Bszfp4Byp
More art: https://tr.ee/gaYRYdJ0-k

In the Ants Game A raffle is held among collectors of each piece. The winner collaborates with me on the next one and can choose ANYTHING for me to use. Artworks are minted as free OE on Zora Base, with a split.

The first raffle winner was the lucky @monikanft and she chose some abstract images for me to use. The mysterious, magical, and colorful universe of these works inspired me to create a mysterious, organic, spiraling motion. With many layers that hide and reveal themselves, along with symbolic hints. The final result represents a combination of Monica's and my vision into a harmonious, meditative loop that viewers are invited to immerse themselves in.

When Art Collides

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The second raffle between all collectors of When Art Collides was held on July 21th, and the winner was: @OhHungryArtist. she chose this qoute:

A really beautiful and inspiring quote. The memory of the heart erases the bad and amplifies the good, and it's a kind of trick of the brain that helps us cope with the difficulties of past memories. It made me think about how the brain, unlike the heart, naturally focuses on the bad and pays less attention to the good. And how we can train it intentionally to notice the good, which helps in dealing with difficulties and anxieties. And it's all related to the heart and love, trying to see things through the heart's perspective. This took me to a very personal place, dealing with the challenges my family and I faced over the past year, both physically and mentally. My creation speaks about the body-mind connection, about our ability to train the brain to be more heart-like, and about the infinite energy that connects all of us as human beings.

Digestive Energy

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The third raffle between all collectors of Digestive Energy was held on August 24th, and the winner was: @FotoGraaGH. She chose this photograph:

Collaborations are magic. It's simply a pleasure to see what happens when two creative minds come together and merge their visions. This is one of the main reasons I created Ants game. Sometimes inspiration arrives in unclear ways, sometimes it takes time, but at some point, everything clicks, and the satisfaction is immense.

Hanneke chose a photograph. A work that is complete and stands on its own. I admit that at first, I had a bit of hesitation. I felt that taking this beautiful photograph and adding something to it would be a sort of sin. But at the same time, as soon as I saw the photo, inspiration struck me. The delicate lines and texture of the butterfly's wings reminded me of other things – the lines on petals, roots, and even our blood vessels. It’s one of those signs of nature that show how everything is connected and intertwined.

When we started talking, Hanneke wrote to me that she was thinking about the healing power of photography and the creative process. For her, both are very important. It’s a distraction from the pain she experiences. It doesn't disappear, but she's less preoccupied with it. I immediately connected with that. I also experience the healing and magical power of art. With all these thoughts, I set out on my path.

I tried to represent the idea that everything is always in transformation. No matter what, everything keeps changing, and we keep moving forward. Even when it seems like we’re not. This constant change is the only certainty, and in my view, it connects to how things are in motion in nature and everything around us. It’s also, in my eyes, related to the brain’s power to heal and to the butterfly’s strength, which lies in its delicacy and fragility. I connected continuous lines, like growing roots, and gentle electric energy that is in motion. Organic circular movement versus sharp, digital grid representation. Everything merges into a mysterious world of imagery that feels like a glimpse into an ancient subconscious script, always in motion.

Roots

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The 4th raffle between all collectors of Roots was held on September, 24, and the winner was: Andrea @crownandpalette. she chose these artworks:

When I received Andrea's photos, the first thing that caught my eye was the flowers. On one hand, they looked so organic, but on the other, there was something electric about them, with a bright reddish-pink glow. They seemed almost connected to the figures, as if they were part of them.

This made me think about how we are all cyborgs, where technology is not just an external tool but truly becomes a part of us, like an extension of our body.

After exploring this concept in my thesis, I now feel deeply inspired to search for this cyborg connection in my artwork and explore its meanings and symbolism.

"Cyborg imagery can suggest a way out of the maze of dualisms in which we have explained our bodies and our tools to ourselves. This is a dream not of a common language, but of a powerful infidel heteroglossia. It is an imagination of a feminist speaking in tongues to strike fear into the circuits of the super savers of the new right. It means both building and destroying machines, identities, categories, relationships, space stories. Though both are bound in the spiral dance, I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess."

Donna Haraway - A Cyborg Manifesto, 1985

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The 5th raffle between all collectors of Form was held on Novemeber, 6, and the winner was: MrSazon @themrsazon. he chose "something revolving around waves or a whale, and maybe a chili pepper"

This request, combined with Mr S art and the incredible work by The POD, sparked thoughts about community, innovation, playfulness, and the power of togetherness. It made me reflect on the beautiful interplay between art and technology—how it breaks boundaries, challenges outdated hierarchies, and creates new possibilities.

This inspired the mix of organic and digital elements in my piece, blending water and sky with pixels and 2D forms. For the final piece in this collection, I aimed to weave together elements from all the artworks, tying the story into a cohesive whole.

This piece captures the spirit of the Ants Game—community, collaboration, and experimentation. It’s a celebration of creative synergy and the joy of making something extraordinary together.

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WIth this Artwork, called "Huge Happiness" I conclude this experiment which was a great opportunity for me to learn and develope, but above all to create together with wonderful inspiring minds. I want to thank everyone who took part and participated. this would have never been possibe with your support.

Much Love,

Antwoman

How It Works:

1. Initial Artwork Release:

   

   • June 10: I release the first artwork as a free Open Edition (OE) on Zora, available for 2 weeks.
     

2. Collector Participation:

   • After 2 weeks, a raffle is held to select one collector who will contribute an element to the next artwork.

3. Collaborative Creation:

   • The selected element, chosen by the raffle winner, can be anything from an illustration, poem, or 3D model to an existing piece of art they own the rights to.

   • This element is then incorporated into the next artwork.

4. Continuous Cycle:

   • The new collaborative artwork is minted as a free OE for another 2 weeks, and the cycle repeats.

     

5. Collection Building:

   • Over time, this process creates a collection of collaborative artworks, each a blend of my vision and the collectors' contributions.

6. Ownership and Rewards:

   • Each collaborative artwork will have split ownership between me and the chosen collector.

   • The more editions a collector mints, the higher their chances of being selected in the raffle.

Key Features:

• Randomness: The element of randomness is introduced through the raffle, ensuring a unique and unexpected collaboration every time.

• Community Involvement: Collectors are not just buyers but active participants in the creative process.

• Exclusive Ownership: Shared ownership of artworks provides a personal connection and investment in the project’s success.

Rules:

• The element contributed by the raffle winner must be something they own the rights to.

• I do not decide the contribution; the raffle winner has full creative freedom within the bounds of their ownership rights.

Join the ANTS Game and become a part of an evolving, community-driven art project where every participant has a chance to leave their mark on the creative journey.

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Since we are also at the beginning of Pride Month, I thought this would be the perfect timing to talk a bit about art that breaks gender and sex boundaries and old hierarchical perceptions.

ENJOY!

This dissertation examines how Donna Haraway’s concept of the cyborg, as it is presented in A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century (1985), is reflected in feminist art. The cyborg in feminist art between 1990-2022 is explored as a transgressive image representing blurred gender boundaries and an opportunity for a new self-representation for women.[1]

            Haraway’s feminist cyborg metaphor, as expressed in art and culture, is discussed in the context of the different waves of feminism, from first-wave feminism to the current era, known as the fourth wave. This dissertation explores the visual representation of the cyborg as a cultural and feminist symbol and the transformation this image has undergone due to the technological developments of the last decades. It compares early cyberfeminism artworks (from the early 1990s) and contemporary works, focusing on two main themes: the blurring of gender boundaries and the monstrous feminine cyborg.

            Haraway post-modern feminist politics is rooted in technology’s impact on society. She draws on the concept and image of the cyborg, which represents partiality, perversity, and blurring of boundaries, as an alternative to Western humanist tradition. Haraway’s cyborg world disrupts the boundaries between human and animal, organism and machine, as well as physical and non-physical. The cyborg allows partial identities, contradictory standpoints, and a bodily and social reality in which humans, animals, and machines are intertwined.

Haraway is considered part of the third wave of feminism. In contrast to earlier waves of feminism, which were grounded in humanist traditions and based on generalizations and appropriation, third-wave feminism sought to deconstruct the binary perception, emphasize the need for diversity, and give room for marginalized positions and differences among women.[2] As such, Haraway’s feminist proposal explores partial explanations, intersections, coalitions, and diversity instead of universal feminist identity. According to Haraway, the technological culture challenges the dualistic perceptions of Western tradition, particularly the perception of woman-as-other.

            Haraway is also considered a forerunner of fourth-wave feminism (from the 1990s onwards). This wave of feminist discourse and action, primarily in popular media, utilizes the internet and digital technologies as its principal means and conveys the absolute blurring of boundaries and the presence of cyborgs in everything. The Cyber-Feminist Movement, born in the 1990s following Haraway’s Cyborg Manifesto, is part of this wave. Art was one of this movement’s most essential components, emphasizing the pleasure and joy of the cyborg’s blurring of boundaries. Early cyberfeminism had a utopian perception of cyberspace, which was shattered by the development of the internet. Contrary to expectations, the internet turned out to be neither autonomic nor egalitarian; moreover, it reinforced images of gender and racial stereotypes.[3]    

            The artworks analyzed in this study reflect the transformation of feminism over the last three decades. Early cyberfeminism was characterized by a utopian approach, optimism, and enthusiasm, apparent in the early artworks' imaginary and fantastical cyborg depictions. The cyborg connections in these works are salient and bold, reflecting enthusiasm and joy. With the disillusion from the utopian hopes, the understanding of cyberspace and the possibility it affords became more realistic. While humor and irony remained essential means in the artworks of the 2000s, the social critique articulated in these works has broadened, gaining more prominence.

            The contemporary artworks express the significant technological changes and complete blurring of the boundaries between cyberspace and the real world. These cyborgs are hybrid, fluid creatures whose human-machine connections are simpler and more realistic. They represent technology as an inseparable aspect of life while continuing to expand their social critique by integrating intersectionality with other realms. This integration reflects feminist thought, which has become more networked and circular instead of linear and dichotomic.    

The first main theme explored in this study is the blurring of gender boundaries. Cyborg art embodies the zeitgeist, encapsulating the fears and desires permeating the culture of its era.[4] Historically, cyborg representations in visual art mirrored traditional gender dynamics. Throughout time, the female body has symbolized the fear of technological dominance and simultaneously served as a sexual object designed for the male gaze. Similarly, cyborg representation in popular culture also reflects these traditional gender dynamics. In science-fiction films, comics, and video games, these characters bear exaggerated gender traits, with female cyborg characters serving mainly as visual and sexual objects for the male heroes. 

            This study investigates artworks that do the opposite: they use the cyborg to undermine traditional gender roles. The works by art collective VNS Matrix represent the subversion and utopic approach of early cyberfeminism while critiquing traditional gender perceptions. Irony, parody, humor, and pleasure, some of early cyberfeminism’s primary tools, are also found in their later works. Marina Zurkow’s animated series Braingirl (2003) and Lyn Hershman Leeson’s film Teknolust (2005) feature post-human boundary-blurring characters who challenge social hierarchies and undermine gender power relations whimsically and playfully.

            The cyborg representations in contemporary artworks can be divided into two main trends: a subtle and incidental body-technology connection and a complete and utter blurring of boundaries such that there is no distinction between body and technology. Artist Chiara Girimonti is a representative of the subtle connection trend. Her sketches (2017-2019) feature androgynous or genderless characters whose cyborg connection are more delicate than in the earlier artworks. In contrast, Paula Pin’s project, Trans Organs on a Chip (2016), conveys an absolute blurring of boundaries. This radical laboratory project uses human-plant cells, human hormones, and a hybrid chip. It challenges the deterministic perception of biology, dilutes the lines of sexual differentiation, and represents a hybrid understanding of gender.[5]

            The second theme explored in this study is that of the monstrous feminine cyborg. The social role of the monster is to represent the other and define boundaries. It exemplifies the abject, simultaneously invoking the subject’s attraction and repulsion while undermining their perception.[6] Both women and monsters constitute symbols of the other and are historically linked. Faith Wilding takes the image of the woman-monster to the extreme in the genderless and boundaryless cyborg figures she collages, mirroring this image of the women-monster by utilizing the power of the taboo. Lee Bull’s sculpture series, Cyborgs W (1999), is another example of utilizing taboos. By portraying cyborg warriors who are also disabled, she shatters the image of the ideal woman, critiquing the traditional portrayal of women. She represents Haraway’s ironic, cyborg feminist subject while exploring the portrayal of women in Western art history and Japanese Manga.

            In contemporary work depicting the monstrous feminine cyborg, we can identify the two trends of cyborg representation found in blurred-gender-binaries-themed artworks: subtle cyborg connection and complete blurring of boundaries. The latter can be seen in the works of Wangechi Mutu, which depict utterly genderless monsters; The former can be found in Joanna Grochowska’s work, particularly in her exhibition “Opening the Future” (2021), which displays faceless and genderless figures, whose cyborg connection is delicate and elusive. The contemporary works demonstrate how Haraway’s cyborg has become inseparable from the feminist and artistic DNA.

Through contextualization of the discourse and its applications, this study is not only based on Haraway’s concept and image of the cyborg but also demonstrates its significance for feminist thought, as well as its application and influence on art and popular culture. The cyborgs in artworks of the past three decades form an alternative to the traditional cyborg representations and, as such, embody Haraway’s vision. They encapsulate contradictions and opposing aspects, demonstrating multiplicity, ambiguity, and polyphony as tools for conveying feminist critique. Their power is expressed through irony and their pleasure in transgressing boundaries. The feminist artists continue the feminist tradition of utilizing the abject and taboo for creating cyborg monsters that manifest the big significant social and cultural change of the last decades.  

Tel Aviv University - The Interdisciplinary Program in the Arts. May 2024.
Supervisors: Dr. Yael Eylat Van-Essen & Dr. Daphna Ben-Shaul

English translation: Noa Shoval

[1]  Donna Haraway. A Manifesto for Cyborgs: Science, Technology and Socialist Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century

[2] Ealasaid Munro, “Feminism: A Fourth Wave?” Political Insight 4, no. 2 (2013): 22.

[3] Nina Wakeford, "Gender and The Landscapes of Computing in an Internet Café," in. The Gendered Cyborg: A Reader, ed. Gill Kirkup and others (London: Routledge in association with the Open University, 2000), 291-292.

[4] Gonzalez, Jennifer, "Envisioning Cyborg Bodies: Notes from Current Research," The Gendered Cyborg: A Reader, ed. Gill Kirkup and others (London: Routledge in association with the Open University, 2000), 58.

[5] “TransOrgansOnAchip,” paulapin.net, accessed July 2, 2019, http://paulapin.net/transorgansonachip/.

[6] Margrit Shildrick, "Monstrous Reflection on the Mirror," in Belief, Bodies & Being: Feminist Reflections on Embodiment, ed. Deborah Orr, (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers inc, 2006), 37-38.