.png)
2026 Sep. Winners
Thank you to everyone for your support and/or participation in this contest. It could not have happened without your support! I look forward to seeing you in the next one :-)
The 2026 September Art Contest theme was Programming the Planet: "AI has captured the headlines of 2026. Data centers are popping up in our backyards, mega corporations are jamming it into their software, and workers are being replaced by lack luster AI agents.
In it all, we must ask ourselves: how far are we willing to go to replace our reality with a virtual one and will our humanity go with it? What is AI doing to us, to our planet, to our homes?
Represent what the rise of AI means to you for this month’s art contest! The good, the bad, the ugly."
I had fun and hope you did too. I look forward to the next contest and seeing everyone's work. Until then, enjoy these talented winning pieces!
Winners
Winner - Kim
"Statistics"
A drawing capturing the feeling that creatives and non-creatives worldwide share. Perhaps the system wants to replace us with Artificial Intelligence and the statistics confirm it, but maybe this situation is an opportunity to reawaken our gift for creating.
Created by a young Venezuelan finger artist.
1500p x 1800p PNG, 350dpi @kimiicafe
Winner - Jocelyn Lam
The weight of your absence
Recently, I've been increasingly forced to use Generative AI at my job as a designer. The constant re-generations, the blasé "just use AI" like its a magic button, the word vomits that get passed down the pipeline because some coworker decided to use AI but didn't read through what it says — it feels like a lobotomy of my brain. But at the same time, a lobotomy sounds so enticing if it would have me echo the same AI hype too.
297mm x 420mm, PNG, 300dpi @jolayijo
Honorary Mention
Honorary Mention - artsbyswa
Takeover
This piece was made as an ode to retro caricatures of what modernity looks like; a world ruled by artificial intelligence and robots. The idea that robots will one day conquer the world has been around since decades, and it is unfortunately starting to happen. The classic, rusty look of the robot is inspired by retrofuturism; to see the future through the lens of the past.
2100p x 2100p, PNG 300dpi @artsbyswa