Soft Robotics

Soft Robotics (2025) is an ongoing series of speculative sculptural works by Lisa Meinesz that explore the emotional and structural potential of bio-engineered forms. Blending digital craftsmanship with ecological speculation, the series envisions future lifeforms and environments where softness and synthetic intelligence intersect. This work has been presented in both online showcases and emerging physical exhibitions, including the Melbourne Design Week.

Technical Details:

  • Medium & Tools: Developed using ZBrush and Cinema 4D; rendered with Redshift. Early versions explored Octane for lighting before pipeline alignment. Textures draw from real-world materials but are digitally manipulated to appear semi-synthetic or biomechanical.
  • Fabrication & Prototyping: Select works from the series have been physically prototyped using SLM 3D-printed aluminum and bio-based resin casting. A major sculptural prototype, Soft Connection, features inflating silicone elements powered by mechanical pumps and robotic arms—part of her work with Fab Academy’s soft robotics toolkit.
  • Installation Concepts: Designed as modular, adaptable forms that could exist as body extensions, prosthetics, or autonomous agents. Physical setups involve mechanical inflatables, tethered air systems, and reactive robotic interfaces.

    • Concept and Process:

    The Soft Robotics series arose from Meinesz’s intuitive process—sculpting directly into ZBrush without sketches, allowing forms to evolve organically through iteration and tactile experimentation. Inspired by creatures like rays, deep-sea organisms, and embryonic architecture, the series channels subconscious emotional logics into synthetic ecosystems.

    Her work blends speculative design with an ecological imagination, drawing from soft robotic research, synthetic biology, and marine morphology. Rather than following strict biomimicry, the forms are imbued with a dreamlike strangeness—deliberately unfamiliar yet grounded in functional possibility.

    The process also involves collaborations with fabricators working in eco-materials and robotics, as well as deep engagement with speculative futures literature and scientific case studies.

    Title Meaning:

    The term Soft Robotics reflects both a technical discipline and a poetic metaphor in Meinesz’s practice—referring to pliable, responsive systems in robotics and to a broader vision of non-rigid futures. Her use of “soft” also evokes emotion, vulnerability, and symbiosis—qualities she believes are essential in reimagining relationships between humans, technology, and the environment.

    Artistic Context:

    This series marks a pivotal shift in Meinesz’s work—from strictly digital sculpture toward hybrid digital-physical systems. It bridges her fascination with speculative ecosystems and her background in graphic design and material ecology. Thematically, Soft Robotics extends her long-standing interest in body modifications, prosthetics, and techno-organic interfaces.

    It complements parallel efforts like the Symbiotic Structures series but pushes further into fabrication and robotics—moving from rendered speculation to experimental application. The series also stands out for its blend of narrative abstraction and technical specificity, distinguishing Meinesz as a leading voice in post-digital ecology.

    Additional Information:

  • Notable Works: Soft Connection, a soft-robotic stingray prototype; multiple untitled eel- and coral-inspired sculptures; various prosthetic studies and wearable experiments.
  • Recognition: Featured in Visual Atelier 8 and Coeval Magazine; highlighted in digital sculpture forums and included in Melbourne Design Week 2025.
  • Innovations: One of the few independent digital artists prototyping soft robotics with aesthetic and ecological intent; combines Redshift-rendered CGI with tactile materials like resin, agar, and silicone.
    • Author(s)
    Daniel Aagentah
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    Footnotes

    In a conversational format, Lisa kindly interviewed with us for a small Q&A on our public platform some weeks ago, where we highlighted this project, and a few others in passing.

    ~ Dan[]

    Rendah Mag

    This project exists to research the topic of creative context within underground & experimental arts. Through the lens of creative-journalism, we explore the life-cycle of artists and their projects, in an otherwise undocumented space.

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