In a previous post, I spoke about taking a response from someone describing what their womb would look like if it were a place and turning that into a prompt for AI.

As a refresher here is the prompt:

a photorealistic image of a room which looks like a lush garden inside which is representative of the uterus of someone with endometriosis

And here is the result:

Image Description

AI generated imagery of four hyper realistic photos of an interior design for the dreamy fairy tale bedroom in paradise, pink and green color palette, a lush garden full with flowers and plants surrounding it, magical atmosphere, surrealistic

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting the results to be as close to what was in my mind as this. I was really impressed. I’m intrigued to know which part of these repsponses represents the “endometriosis” section of the AI prompt.

I really like option 3 because the round shape of draped pink fabrics sort of looks like a womb or vaginal opening. It’s definitely my favourite although I’m loving weird abstract furniture that is depicted at the back of option two.

Since I like option three the most, I decided to work on it a bit further.

Image Description

A collage of pink and green floral patterns, vines, and foliage surrounded by lush jungle foliage, with mirrors reflecting in the background. The scene is set at dawn or dusk, creating an ethereal atmosphere. This style blends natural elements with fantasy and surrealism, giving it a dreamy quality in the style of surrealist artists.

Here are examples of subtle variations of the original image

And here are examples of strong variations of the original image.

Image Description

A collage of four images depicting lush greenery, pink drapes, and exotic plants in an opulent setting. The style is a mix between hyper-realistic botanicals and surreal digital art, with vibrant colors and soft lighting creating a dreamy atmosphere. Each element has its own distinct visual narrative within the composition, showcasing a harmonious blend of nature’s beauty and modern aesthetics. This combination creates a visually stunning representation that sparks imagination.

I prefer the strong varations because the garden room looks more overgrown and wild, but still retains it’s beauty which feels closer to what the original response from the participant was saying.

Regardless of my preferences, I think my process will include me using all of these images as previs. I plan to then use 3D software inspired by all of the imagery seen here to create the scene. I’ll take features from all of the images as well as my own ideas that are closer to the original response from the participant to bring their “womb room” to life.

I’ll be honest though, the 3D production is exciting but also scary. I have a bit of imposter syndrome of whether I can actually deliver this. I sort of feel inferior to what Midjourney was able to create.

I’ve just realised something.

The model I have been using to create this project is similar to the process of asking AI to generate imagery for me.

I am using a prompt to ask people living with chronic conditions to generate imagery about what their womb looks like.

The prompt is this central question: If your womb were a place you could visit, what would it look like?

The process for this project then asks the participants to generate abstract imagery in their brains about what their womb would look like if it were a place. They then communicate that to me via the written or spoken word.

I am then taking that response and turning it into a prompt for AI, allowing algorithms to generate digital imagery of what the participants were describing to me. I’m only now realising that I’ve sort of acted like an intermediary between the participant and Midjourney.

If I’m asking the participants a prompt that triggers them to generate imagery, am I treating them the same way as an AI algorithm? Is that ethical? These are all questions that are important to consider when working with people who are expressing intimate ideas about their bodies.

Now to begin with my project Womb Room.

For a few years, I’ve been exploring a project called Womb Room. The idea is to ask a central question:

If your womb were a place you could visit, what would it look like?

I want people living with chronic conditions of the uterus and ovaries to creatively explore what their wombs would look like if they were real spaces we could visit as human beings. It’s been difficult because I struggle to know where to begin. How will I bring this project to life? I go between wanting the project to be VR and a physical installation that people can go to. Maybe it can be both?

The most intimidating thing for me is knowing whether I have the skills to do this. This is why it’s been really exciting to join this residency. After experimenting with AI in the previous posts, I decided to have my first go at seeing what it would produce in relation to the central question I plan to ask people who will participate in the project.

A few years ago, I asked a couple of people the question I mentioned above. I decided to use one of the responses I got and turn it into a prompt for Midjourney.

This was the original response. For reference, this person has endometriosis and is a yoga instructor and herbalist.

“I honestly think that my uterus and my ovaries and all of my little reproductive organs I feel like it’s a beautiful garden. I think it’s a gorgeous gorgeous garden. It’s lush, it’s fertile. It’s it’s just spectacular to behold. However, if I am not doing the right kind of gardening you know, like when I’m not doing the, the best in terms of staying on top of like diet and exercise and the things that I know help me to manage the inflammation…maybe my garden is becoming a little bit over on with thorns, or maybe there’s a few too many difficult weeds that need pruning.

I think when my endometriosis is flaring, and it’s not at its greatest, I like to imagine that maybe it’s just that I need to tend to the garden in a more sensitive way. Do a little pruning, maybe throw a little fertiliser on there. Maybe cut out some of the thorny rose bushes, you know. But I never like to imagine it as anything less than beautiful and fertile and just lush and gorgeous. Because I think, you know, despite what it may be doing that doesn’t feel ideal, it’s still this magical thing of complete, utter mastery that I just, I can’t help but like, be in awe of it and its beauty.”

I really love this response because it challenged my expectations. I assumed most of the people who would respond to the question I posed would give really intense and negative imagery, but this person described their womb as something beautiful regardless of how much pain it causes them.

I wanted this to be my first attempt and bringing my project to life.

Here is the prompt I created from the response above:

“a photorealistic image of a room which looks like a lush garden inside which is representative of the uterus of someone with endometriosis“a photorealistic image of a room which looks like a lush garden inside which is representative of the uterus of someone with endometriosis.”

It doesn’t quite encapsulate everything that was mentioned in the response above, however, it’s a good place to start. In my next post, I’ll share the imagery generated from the prompt and what I plan to do to bring my ideas to life for this project.

In my previous post, I asked AI to visualise the womb and this exposed an interesting bias about how the word “womb” is attributed to pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood.

I wanted to see how the results would differ if I used the word “uterus” instead. This word felt more scientific and anatomical so I assumed the imagery would look more like the organ as it appears in our body instead of the abstract image of fetuses in utero.

I used this prompt:

“a photorealistic image of the uterus“

These were the results

Image Description

A series of four images showcasing the different types of colorful human-style organs. Each photo is set against a soft pastel background that enhances the realism and detail of each organ with delicate pink veins. This visual representation highlights both scientific precision while also conveying an emotional connection through its vibrant colors.

Just as I expected. Using more scientific language gives us more scientific results that do not carry the bias of the womb or uterus being used for childbirth. But one thing sticks out to me…It hasn’t quite depicted the uterus accurately. They sort of look like non-descript abstract human organs. The last one looks like a heart. This is further proven when we look at the raw results of Midjourney trying to describe the imagery it created.

See below:

A series of images showcasing the anatomy and structure of different types of colorful human organ, such as heart, buds, Game design style, Zbrush rendering. It is rendered in high resolution using Octane Render with a 3D render engine. The lighting effect adds depth to each scene. In one part there’s an illustration of two ram horns. In another there is an illustration of many pink flower petals floating around the red root system of these flowers. All four parts are shown side by side.

A series of images showcasing the anatomy and structure of different human organ types, such as heart or bowels, rendered in realistic 3D graphics. The composition includes close-ups on individual lungs to highlight their unique features and textures. Each photo is set against a soft pastel background that enhances the realism and detail of eachorganshaped with delicate pink veins. This visual representation highlights both scientific precision while also conveying an emotional connection through its vibrant colors.

4 different views of the organ heart in hyper realistic style

Create four images of realistic human anatomy, each depicting different types of biological structures such as the heart and living arteries. Each photo should showcase intricate details in high resolution. The first image is of two beautiful female hearts made from plastic, the second one shows three living veins with red veins, the third has five white brain cells, and the fourth picture features pink flowers growing on an ear. All photos have a blue background.

The organs mentioned in the image descriptions include the heart, bowels, lungs, arteries, and brain cells.

Not one mention of a uterus. Strange.

Perhaps next time I need to make more specific prompts or this exposes that Midjourney has difficulty generating the uterus accurately without the bias of childbirth and pregnancy included.

This is not the overall aim of my project, so I will pause my experiments here. Nonetheless, it’s been eye-opening to see the gaps in how AI views the human body and in turn how we view our bodies.

For my project Womb Room, I wanted to see how I could use AI to assist my process in creating immersive visuals that represent what the womb looks like from the perspective of someone living with a chronic womb condition.

This project is supposed to inspire creativity and abstract thinking. I want the visuals to feel metaphorical and allow us to reframe how we think about the body.

But in this case, I was interested in seeing how AI perceives the human body. Why? Because it’s like a mirror. It shows our own biases considering that the algorithms are made up of data that reflects how we as humans view the world.

Using Midjourney, I wanted to see how AI would visualise the womb

I wrote this prompt:

“a photorealistic image of the womb“a photorealistic image of the womb“

Image Description:

4 different images of the process from an ambient cell to cross-sections showing a baby in an umbilical cord, from inside a mother’s belly to a pregnant woman and everything is made in the style of pink wax, hyper realistic, hyper detailed, high resolution, high definition.

Fascinating!

The first four results all included imagery of a fetus. A bias has emerged. There is a clear association between the “womb” and pregnancy, even though not everyone with a womb sees their organ that way.

Nonetheless, the imagery looks so interesting, especially the last one where it sort of looks like a fetus forming in real time..or maybe exploding, I’m not sure.

As you know, I have been using Midjourney to support me with the image descriptions as well. The image descriptions at AI generated for me also tell me a lot about the biases we see with AI. In my prompt, I asked AI to generate me some imagery of the womb. When I put the same image they gave me back into the system to generate the image description. It revealed a lot.

The image description I chose for this post, was the most neutral and descriptive. However, I was presented with three other options. Read them below:

“4 different images of an accent color pink baby in the mother’s stomach, detailed in the style of hyperrealism, organic and fluid forms, colorful Moebius, dark crimson and light amber, macro photography, surrealistic, close-up shots, photorealistic detail, highly realistic.”

“A series of images showing the development and growth of an orange-pink baby in its mother’s stomach, from inside to outside, with detailed close-ups of each stage. The last picture is a realistic photo of a human being emerging outwards in the style of James Gurney. Hyper-realistic photography. High resolution.“”A series of images showing the development and growth of an orange-pink baby in its mother’s stomach, from inside to outside, with detailed close-ups of each stage. The last picture is a realistic photo of a human being emerging outwards in the style of James Gurney. Hyper-realistic photography. High resolution.“

“4 different images of the human baby in the mother’s stomach, showing inside and outside views. The images feature organic textures, fluid forms in the style of babycore, and detailed anatomy. A mandelbrot palette was used to create highly realistic, organic sculptures with detailed close-ups in a hyper-realistic style.“

In each of these descriptions, a few words stand out to me.

Mother – this implies a gendered association with the womb and the implication that the womb’s purpose is for pregnancy and childbirth. Remember, I never used this word in my prompt.

Baby – the use of non scientific language like “fetus” is very interesting

Stomach – babies do not grow in the stomach organ, they grow in the womb, so once again we’re seeing non-scientific language to describe the imagery

Discovering these biases is exciting for me. I feel like testing the algorithm for these biases can actually inform my process. Perhaps it’s not just about using AI to help me visualise my project. Maybe it’s also about looking into the gaps that the responses AI creates to question our own human biases.

After getting these results back, I then thought about what Midjourney would generate if I changed my language. Would different words carry different associations with the same organ and therefore generate different results?

We’ll find that out in my next post.