In the series Human Layer, Yulia Ani creates apocalyptic images using AI models, prints them on canvas or paper, and then paints abstract compositions over them.

The desolate landscapes, marked by traces of human presence, are confronted with expressive painterly gestures. Through this process, the work explores the tension between anonymously generated images, built from vast datasets of existing visual material, and abstraction as a direct form of human expression.

This contrast raises questions about authorship, originality, and the nature of image-making today. If AI-generated images are constructed entirely from existing human-made material, can they be considered independent from human presence?

The work also points to a broader condition: even in the absence of humans, AI-generated imagery would still carry the accumulated visual memory of humanity. In this sense, it does not exist outside of human experience, but as its extension.