Afterlight
Video, 2025
About the artwork
At first, there was color.
Then came the dimming. Slow, certain.
The world faded, shade by shade,
until nearly nothing remained.
But if you looked closely,
past the grey, past the hush,
there it was.
A flicker.
A scatter.
Sprinkles of light,
refusing to disappear.
Sound design generated with AI
Audio explanation
Listen to Elsa Carvalho discuss this work.
Elsa Carvalho is a Portuguese software engineer and artist based in Portugal, who embarked on her visual art journey in April 2021. She holds a PhD in computer science, earned in 2012. Carvalho’s artistic practice is defined by the fusion of creative coding and artificial intelligence, as she explores the interplay between nature and organic forms, using code-generated images as initial inputs for AI to expand upon.
Through her work, Elsa navigates the intersection of technology and artistic expression, pushing the boundaries of traditional visual art. As she delves deeper into her practice, she is currently exploring the creation of immersive video art, seeking to further intertwine these dynamic mediums and expand her creative horizons.