Sougwen Chung

Sougwen 愫君 Chung is a Chinese-Canadian artist and researcher, widely regarded as a pioneer in human–machine collaboration. Their work MEMORY (Drawing Operations Unit: Generation_2) is part of the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the first AI model to be collected by a major cultural institution.

Chung's multidisciplinary practice spans installation, drawing, performance, and sculpture in dialogue with robotics, machine learning, and bio-sensing. Through these interwoven forms, they investigate the shifting relationships between the gesture of the hand and the gesture of the machine. Their work conceives collaboration as an evolving coaesthetic system, in which human, machine, and environment co-produce open choreographies of perception and meaning.

Since 2015, Chung has developed the Drawing Operations series, a landmark inquiry into the aesthetics of symbiosis between human and machine. From robotic mimicry of drawing gestures, to neural networks trained on two decades of drawing data, to EEG-driven biofeedback performances, and dimensional mark-making, the project maps a decade-long evolution of interspecies authorship.

In 2025, Chung's research centres on metamorphic systems. Through experimental robotics, biosynthetic materiality, and silk circuitry , drawing on the emergent properties of silk produced by live silkworms , Chung reframes embodiment through meditation, machine gestures, and organic computation.

Chung has been named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in AI and honored with their Global Impact Award. They have been recognized as a Cultural Leader at the World Economic Forum, and celebrated for excellence in the Arts & Sciences as Woman of the Year in Monaco. Their accolades include the Lumen Prize for Art in Technology, the Japan Media Arts Excellence Award for Drawing Operations, and a notable commission for Omnia per Omnia.

Chung was also the inaugural E.A.T. Artist in Residence in partnership with the New Museum and Bell Labs. Their work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), The Drawing Center, Mana Contemporary and The New Museum (New York),National Art Center (Tokyo), Haus der Kunst (Munich), ArtScience Museum and Singapore International Festival of Arts (Singapore), Vancouver Art Gallery (Vancouver), MIT Media Lab (Boston), Minsheng Art Museum (Shanghai), Espoo Museum of Modern Art (Espoo) and Art Basel (Miami), among others.

Chung’s practice has been profiled in The New York Times, The Art Newspaper, Art in America, Sursuma Magazine, BBC, Yishu, and TIME Magazine, and they have spoken at forums including TED, World Science Festival, Global Art Forum, UNESCO, the United Nations, and the World Economic Forum. Additionally, Chung is the founder of SCILICET, an experimental studio based in London.