Student Linda Hong Cheng founds art-tech collective pushing boundaries of AI, art and women’s empowerment

Combining cutting-edge AI technology and artistic expression, DPhil student Linda Hong Cheng has founded Girlpane, an art-tech collective which recently launched its Valentine’s Day exhibition Devouring and Desire: Her/Their Love at London's Old Street Gallery.

At the heart of the event was Linda’s DPhil research on digital gender circularity and how technology can empower marginalised voices – particularly those of women and nonbinary people. 

The exhibition explored how artificial intelligence can be used not just as a technological tool, but as a vehicle for amplifying creative expression and dismantling systemic inequalities within both the art world and digital spaces. 

Linda explains:

Digital gender circularity is the idea that increasing women’s access to digital technologies – from mobile phones to AI – also increases their equality in education, political empowerment, economic opportunities, and health outcomes, which in turn increases women’s access to digital technologies… forming a symbiotic cycle.

At the core of this is the powerful potential technology has to transform society for the better.

Artist Zhong Qian's works displayed alongside a Migu AI Music QR code, allowing the audience to scan and "hear" the artworks

Artist Hiro Fujimaki’s work displayed alongside a Migu AI Music QR code, allowing the audience to scan and "hear" the artworks

Central to the Devouring and Desire exhibition was its collaboration with Migu Music, a music subsidiary of China’s largest telecom operator, China Mobile, and an innovator in creative AI. 

Migu’s AI-generated soundscapes accompanied each artwork, inviting visitors to experience the pieces through sound as well as sight – turning the gallery into a multi-sensory space where technology intensified the emotional resonance of women artists’ works.
 

Attendees view works by artists Maria Biernacka and Niki Stevens

For Linda, who has spent her academic career researching how technology can bridge gender divides, this integration was deeply personal and academic:

Technology isn’t just reshaping how we create art – it’s redefining whose voices are heard. Through Devouring and Desire, we wanted to connect women and nonbinary artists with the digital world, breaking barriers and ensuring that their stories and creative expressions resonate on a global scale.

This exhibition directly reflects my DPhil research, highlighting how technology can and should shift from being an exclusionary force to one of empowerment, amplification and transformation.

The exhibition explored themes of love, intimacy and desire through a diverse collection of multimedia installations, interactive soundscapes, live performances, and provocative visual artworks. 

Zhu Hong, CEO of Migu Music, emphasises:

By blending AI with creative expression, Migu and Girlpane aimed to demonstrate how technology can serve as a catalyst for social empowerment, and a tool for dismantling barriers that have historically excluded women from the tech and creative industries.

Attendees view works by artist Beatrics Oggioni

Following the success of their debut exhibition, Gender, Body, and the Visceral – which sold out and garnered coverage from BBC Sounds and The Oxford Times – Devouring and Desire has cemented Girlpane as a trailblazing force at the intersection of technology, art and gender empowerment.

The success of Devouring and Desire was powered by Girlpane’s diverse and dynamic all-women team – researchers from the University of the Arts London. Co-creators Kailun Wei, Chiara Rivaroli and Disha Bhoraskar brought together creativity, activism, and a commitment to amplifying marginalised voices, using art and technology to break barriers and build a supportive community.
 

Attendees celebrate the exhibition's opening night

  
Looking ahead, Girlpane plans to expand its mission by fostering global connections between cutting-edge women and nonbinary artists and a new generation of buyers and collectors interested in supporting tech-driven, forward-thinking creativity.

Girlpane is building a future where technology isn’t in opposition to creativity and art, but rather actively elevating the voices of those historically silenced.

Our mission is to empower women artists to lead at the intersection of technology, innovation, and culture – transforming not only the art world, but how we engage with creativity as a whole in the digital age.

You can follow Girlpane on Instagram and visit their website at girlpane.com.
 

The Girlpane team: Kailun Wei, Disha Bhoraskar, Linda Hong Cheng, Chiara Rivaroli