STREGA DI SICILIA
AI PORTRAIT SERIES by nicole fichera
A showcase of AI-generated art inspired by my ancestors in Sicily.
This series of artworks is created using an AI image generator called Dall-E. With each piece, I carefully input prompts that draw from my Sicilian heritage, and curate the resulting outputs. These images are exactly as they were created by the AI, with no post-processing or edits.
The result of this process has been a series of beautiful portraits that each portray a Strega di Sicilia—an enchantress from Sicilian folklore—in a variety of styles.
When creating each piece, I started by brainstorming ideas for colors, symbols, and aesthetic concepts based on my Sicilian heritage and cultural identity. Once I had a basic concept in mind, I would then feed carefully worded prompts into the AI image generator that would produce the final artwork. This process allowed me to create complex images that combine elements of both traditional art and modern technology.
The AI image generator I used for this project is called Dall-E 2. It was developed by OpenAI, a San Francisco research group focused on developing artificial general intelligence (AGI). The name “Dall-E” comes from Salvador Dalí and WALL-E, two characters that embody creativity and exploration. By combining these two concepts, OpenAI has created a powerful tool for creating unique images.