EGO SYSTEM is a generative portraiture system that evolves through generations.
Gen0 is the origin: over 800 digital portraits of real people, reduced to their essence. Each subject becomes an XXY Portrait — a face in which the eyes are replaced by chromosomal notation, the creation date written in astronomical ephemeris, the name retained as the final anchor of cultural identity.
Alongside the XXY Portraits exist the Ego Masks: 100 anonymous portraits in which alchemical symbols encode the creation date. No name. Only the trace of the moment.
Gen1 is born from crossing. Each subject inherits visual traits from two Gen0 parents and is drawn entirely by hand — acrylic on wood, acrylic and chalk on cotton paper. The manual gesture as a response to digital saturation.
Gen2 is the next step: a LoRA model trained on Gen1 subjects generates visual hybrids, offspring that could not exist without the system that precedes them.
Saul Zanolari | Official Website & Art Archive | EGO SYSTEM 