The iconic feature of Emily Xie’s work is the intricate, crafted textures created with code. With the same code, she cuts these textures into graphic shapes and collages them into complex compositions. She’s best known for her “Memories of Qilin” release on Art Blocks in March of 2022, but she has released series after series of engaging work over the last few years. “Off Script” was a part of the London exhibition with Bright Moments in Summer 2022. “Off Script” is a long-form generative art series that includes one hundred individual works, all created from the same source code. I think the best way to appreciate this type of work is to look at all 100 together and recognize what is unique and coherent across the series. Along with her detailed textures, Emily is excellent at working with color and composition. In “Off Script,” the elegant, but imperfect shapes that feel hand-made capture my interest. My attention is fixed on the way the shapes and colors collide and overlap. Each of the 100 in the series feels like its own world, and the series as a whole like a universe of ideas. Emily is interested in sensation and tactility within her images. In writing about “Off Script,” she explains, “With its synesthetic qualities, the series challenges its own medium, creating a dialogue between the immateriality of digital representation and the corporality of the physical realm.” — Casey REAS