ALGORITHM: SORA-1

Regina Gloriana (2024) draws inspiration from two supernatural horror films produced in 1990s Nollywood (Nigeria’s cinema)—Nneka, the Pretty Serpent (1994) and Karishika (1996). Using text-based prompts in SORA, I reinterpret the visual effects that these films deployed to animate Mami Wata—a femme-presenting, amphibious, and shape-shifting West African God—as a terrifying figure. These 90s evangelical films not only sought to dissuade Mami Wata devotion but also arbitrated Pentecostal-Christian values through uncanny VFX that continues to haunt my imagination. For this reason, I have yet to watch the 2020 sequel of Nneka, the Pretty Serpent.

ALGORITHM: MIDJOURNEY (V5, V6)

Melanin-rich medieval depictions of the Virgin Mary and Child Christ (also known as Black Madonna, 12C-15C) have ignited centuries of scholarly speculation. Did medieval, European artists delibrately depict Madonnas of African-descent? Did St. Luke paint the Black Madonna of Częstochowa during the Virgin Mary's lifetime? From a live painting session? And if so, is St. Luke's Madonna a faithful representation of the Virgin Mary's racial heritage?

Various theories have been proposed to explain the Black Madonna's complexion, from the technical— oxidation of silver-based pigments, smoke damage from the burning of votive candles and incense, material degradation—to interpretations anchored in biblical text, notably the Songs of Solomon (1:5-6), which celebrates the beauty of Blackness: "I am Black but beautiful, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has looked upon me." This perspective stands in stark contrast to interpretations that equate darkness with sin, as expressed in 1 John 1:5: "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all."

Departing from these theories of "unintentional Blackness", my AI-generated portraits intentionally celebrate the Black Madonna as an unmistakably, unquestionably, unambiguously Black divinity.

ALGORITHM: MIDJOURNEY (V5.1)

Beaded Braids Study examines how Midjourney (v 5.1) visualizes bead embellishments on braided Black hair. The text prompt includes visual cues from the bold, unapologetic hair and make-up worn by the legendary Kalakuta Queens—a collective of 27 performers and wives of the celebrated Nigerian musician and political activist, Fela Kuti.

The series uncovers how Midjourney (v 5.1) invokes associations between beaded Black hairstyles and Western, colonial conceptions of African indigeneity—the antithesis of the modern imagination, and perhaps, its distorted reflection. The resulting AI-generated images often reflect colonial fantasies of the African woman: "uncivilized," "unmodernized," "unclothed," living outdoors, and adorned with bead-like embellishments.

ALGORITHM: MIDJOURNEY (V5)

In Nigeria's Niger Delta region, all bodies of water are revered as sacred dwelling for Mami Wata—a femme-presenting, amphibious, metamorphic God whose influence spans fertility, wealth, and healing. Traditionally, artistic depictions of Mami Wata have aimed to capture the entity’s enigmatic nature, manifesting in various forms—a mermaid with non-African traits, “pseudo-Hindu snake charmer”, “human-fish goat-priestess”, mudfish, among other manifestations.

These AI-generated portraits, however, take a different approach by drawing inspiration from Nigerian folktales (Ogboro-Cole, 2015) that depict Mami Wata exclusively in human form. In these narratives, Mami Wata often assumes the role of a femme fatale or a benevolent stranger, intriguing and beguiling in equal measure.