The sun rises. The sun sets. // The body sways. The body writhes. // The mind is a blank slate, the soul is a black hole. // The mouth moves, but it cannot speak. The eyes are trapped behind a veil of raw canvas and paint, unable to see what they have created.

Ilya's goal is to create psychological tension by blurring the lines between reality and illusion 1by blending human form with abstraction, creating a surreal, dreamlike state. His work uses surreal imagery to get viewers to think about their own psyches by juxtaposing memories and emotions with seemingly visceral imagery. In his paintings, Shkipin uses both machine learning techniques and traditional artistic techniques to create images that are both familiar yet off-kilter. His paintings blend multiple styles, including surrealism, expressionism, abstract expressionism, cubism, and pop art, to create an otherworldly atmosphere that is simultaneously comforting yet unsettling. His work is deeply influenced by the ideas of Adrian Ghenie and William Burroughs, two artists whose work focuses on the idea of how humans can be haunted by their own pasts. Shkipin hopes that by employing neural networks, he can disrupt and disturb people's comfort zones while also providing them with an outlet for expressing their own discomfort.