Introduction to the work of Cynthia Mauruschat, aka "Futurella_AI".. Cynthia Mauruschat, known in the digital art world as Futurella_AI, creates a unique blend of realism and fantasy through her extraordinary AI-generated creatures.
Whether drawing inspiration from real-life forms or conjuring entirely fantastical beings, Cynthia’s work constantly challenges the boundaries of what is possible, evoking both beauty and eerie mystery in equal measure.
Her creative process revolves around reimagining the human form through unconventional textures. From cabbage-like skin to reptilian scales, fish-like sheen, or even rough concrete surfaces, Cynthia pushes the limits of how we perceive human skin, transforming it into a canvas for otherworldly creations. It’s this playful yet experimental approach to structure and material that allows her to forge characters unlike any other, mixing elements that would never naturally belong together but seem to come alive in her hands. The more lifelike her creatures appear, the more they blur the line between reality and fiction, inviting viewers to question what is real and what is imagined.
Often pushing for photorealism, Cynthia aims for her characters to seem tangible, as though they could exist in the real world. Yet, she makes sure that viewers recognise they are, in fact, products of her imagination—beings who don’t exist, but whose possibility lingers just beneath the surface. This delicate balance between realism and fantasy is what gives her work its profound depth, sparking thought and challenging the viewer’s perception of the possible versus the impossible.
For Cynthia, AI-powered text-to-image generators like MidJourney are more than just tools; they are partners in her creative process. The randomness and unpredictability of AI fuel her experimentation, sometimes leading to moments of frustration when her intended vision isn’t realised. However, rather than seeing this as a setback, she embraces it as an opportunity to collaborate with AI, adapting and reworking the images as they unfold. This dynamic relationship often results in surprising outcomes—creatures and characters that elicit a strong emotional response, becoming her favourites in the process.
As a graphic designer based in Berlin, Cynthia finds endless inspiration in her surroundings. The city’s diversity, with its mix of people, surfaces, and materials, offers a constant source of stimulation. From the oddities of the urban environment to the beauty and decay of the city, Cynthia discovers new forms and characters in unexpected places, whether in the texture of a wall or the shifting shapes of passing clouds. Her creations reflect the duality of the city itself: beautiful yet harsh, tender yet terrifying. Just like the world around her, Cynthia’s characters are multi-dimensional—they can be strong and confident, delicate and fragile, cute or grotesquely wild, yet always with a touch of the mysterious.
Through her work, Cynthia Mauruschat offers a window into a world where imagination meets reality, where the strange and the familiar collide in unexpected and often haunting ways. Her creatures serve as a reminder that the boundaries of the possible are not fixed, and that creativity, like the city she calls home, thrives on constant evolution and transformation.
Artist: futurella_ai
