As I Remember Them Toi Auaha by Bowen Shen

As I Remember Them Toi Auaha by Bowen Shen is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award Parahi in Hoahoa Hanga, Hātepe, Tawhā me te AI-Āwhina Competition Category.

ParahiHoahoa Hanga· 2026

As I Remember Them Toi Auaha

by Bowen Shen

Client: Bowen Shen

A' Design Award Parahi Winner in Hoahoa Hanga Category

11,969

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #176660

Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About As I Remember Them Toi Auaha

Ko tēnei raupapa toi auaha e whakaatu ana i ngā wā o ia rā o te tamarikitanga mā te hanga whakaahua e āwhinatia ana e te atamai horihori. Ka aro te mahi ki ngā āhuatanga pēnei i te wā okiokinga o te kura, ngā ahiahi raumati mārire i te kāinga, me ngā whakanuinga o te Tau Hou, i ahu mai i ngā wheako i wheakohia ki te raki o Haina. I hangaia mā te akiaki ārahi me te whakatika ā-tirohanga ā-ringa, ka whakaarotia tuatahitia e te raupapa te āhua tūturu i te wā e tukua ana ētahi taupatupatu ā-tirohanga ngāwari hei whakaata i te āhua o te pupuri a te mahara i te kare ā-roto kaua ko ngā taipitopito tōtika.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Parahi

Ko As I Remember Them Toi Auaha te toa o te A' Design Award Parahi, he whakaaetanga tino whai mana e hoatu ana ki ngā hoahoa kōeke e tohua ana mā te auaha, te mahi mōhio me te whakaaro hōhonu. Ko ngā toa Parahi he mahi pukenga e rite ana, he auaha mīharo, e whakatūturu ana i te wheako nui, te whakaaro me te mōhio-ā-ringa o ā rātou kaihoahoa. E tūmanakohia ana ko As I Remember Them Toi Auaha he taonga whakanuia, whakamīharotia, aroha nui, he ngaio, he auaha hoki. Ko tēnei hoahoa i toa i te Parahi e whakauru ana i ngā tikanga pai rawa i te toi, te pūtaiao, te hoahoa me te hangarau, ā, he tino mīharo ki ngā taipitopito. Ka whakatutuki a As I Remember Them Toi Auaha i ngā hiahia, ka pā ki ngā hiahia, ka whakaoho i ngā kare-ā-roto, ā, ka kume i te pākiki.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: As I Remember Them is a generative art series that visualizes fragments of memory, emotion, and longing. It is an attempt to reconstruct the past through the lens of imagination.
Dimensions & Packaging: 1856 x 2464px image series
Tags: Generative AI art, Nostalgia, Childhood memories, Northern China, Visual storytelling, MidJourney, Photoshop, Digital art
Production Technology: This series was created with MidJourney, using iterative prompting and reference-based descriptions to shape culturally specific scenes. Outputs were then refined in Photoshop through compositing, retouching, and color adjustments, ensuring the final work aligned with my artistic vision and emotional intent.
Design Challenge: The greatest challenge was translating personal, culturally specific memories into AI-generated images. MidJourney lacked context for the textures of Northern Chinese life, requiring me to break scenes into elements, source references, and iteratively refine prompts. Balancing realism with the quirks of AI output, and deciding when to embrace its distortions, was both the obstacle and the creative breakthrough.
Research: Process documentation: https://bit.ly/49OvkvG

Type of Research: Practice-based creative research.
Research Objectives: To explore how AI can represent personal and culturally specific memories.
Methodology: Iterative visual experimentation and technical study.
Data Collection and Tools: Memory recall, curated reference images, MidJourney style parameters, prompting techniques, Photoshop.
Participants or Experiments: Repeated prompt and image generation cycles.
Results: Increased control over style, detail, and emotional accuracy.
Insights and Impacts: Structured prompting reduces emotional flatness in AI art.
Real Life Effects: Encourages more human-centered AI use in design and visual storytelling.
Inspiration: Bothered by how often GenAI outputs felt soulless, the project set out to render a deeply soulful subject, the emotional landscape of childhood.

I grew up in Northern China, in a hometown changed by time and distance. Through prompting, storytelling, and hands-on editing, I recreated scenes that linger in me: recess, summer solitude, New Year warmth, while embracing GenAI quirks that reflect how memory distorts and softens.
Project Duration: The project was created virtually over the span of one month in January 2025.
Operation Flow: The generative art is experienced through sequential viewing. Each image presents a self-contained moment, allowing viewers to pause, observe, and form personal associations. The series encourages slow viewing rather than interaction through controls, inviting audiences to connect individual scenes to their own memories and emotional experiences.