In an age where creative energy is unbound — where ideas can spark anywhere and everywhere — the tools we use to capture and shape those moments have never been more important. Snapdragon Unplugged videos dive into this exciting era, highlighting the artists who are shaping it. By harnessing the power of PCs powered by the Snapdragon X Elite processor, the visionary creatives we spotlight are redefining the constraints of time and place for creativity, working seamlessly from bustling cafes to remote mountain landscapes or the comfort of their own homes and offices. 

With Snapdragon, creators can pursue their most ambitious projects without limitations, empowered by technology that fuels their innovative journeys anywhere, anytime.

Meet the Boundless AI & Music Artist

Lela Amparo is a multi-hyphenate artist known for her innovative use of machine learning and environmental sounds in the creation of her art. She refers to herself as a digital artist, a musician and most importantly, a mother. Her past, her travels, and her family are deeply intertwined with her creative process, grounding her surreal work with something very tangible.

We followed Lela on a recent photo and sound gathering session, and her process was eye-opening. Rooted in movement across mediums, continents, and time, her creativity extends beyond the fascinating images and music she produces to the process itself. Unlike artists who rely on vast, open-source AI models, Lela populates her own AI model/generator exclusively with her photography. She then uses her own AI art generator built in Playform to transform these images.

The process is time-consuming and can quickly drain a PC's battery. It involves several steps: downloading raw photos from her camera (often hundreds from a single shoot) and sounds from her smartphone, organizing and filing, editing and uploading, and finally downloading and reviewing the evolved images

She affectionately calls the process “data moshing,” and what comes out can only be described as “otherworldly” — artworks that blur the boundary between reality and imagination. “The world in my art does not exist, but it does exist,” she says. 

Her accompanying music is equally distinct. Lela often records environmental sounds around her, for example, while on a hike, or the voices of her family at gatherings and then uses the app Reason Studios on her PC to create samples of that captured audio and mix it into her original music. Asked what inspired her to do that, Lela shares that it started when she and her partner, now spouse, had a long-distance relationship, “It was a way of memory keeping, to hold on to special moments and be able to go back to this diary and say, 'Do you remember this adventure?' 'This trip we had in Norway or Seattle, we've been to so many places together.”

Soon, Lela found herself doing the same with her family. At family gatherings, she would place the smartphone somewhere inconspicuously and record. “Sometimes I sample the recording and put them in my music and other times I just keep them as a living diary. When I incorporate them in my music, it’s a tribute to the people I love or places I've been. It can end up as anything, like spoken word text within a song, background…maybe I slow down the vocals, or pitch them up. It adds another rich layer that's just nothing you can program. It's something that's a memory but suddenly becomes very tangible.”

Bridging Past and Present

Lela moved from Arizona to Sweden six years ago, and if you examine her work closely, you can see how her art bridges her past and present: vibrant forests full of varied plant life contrast starkly with the muted palette of the Southwestern desert. 

"It's really a combination of two opposite, very distinct worlds. One was my past growing up in Southern Arizona, which is a harsh wilderness type of atmosphere. And then there's the after part, when I moved to Scandinavia and started capturing this more hopeful, lush, and vibrant type of atmosphere," she says. This interplay of survival and abundance, harshness and peace, becomes a visual dialogue in her work — each image a testament to the environments that have shaped her.

She finds connections between the two places through the colors and shapes in her photography. "When I combine these photographs and start making new data sets, it gives me a lot of time to reflect back on the moments when I captured these photos," she says. "It's almost meditative, embracing technology to help me look inwards and think about my life in Arizona and my life here in Sweden… and it's nice that I can look back and almost categorize my time in life."

Bridging the past and present is not just for her benefit. Lela reminds us, when talking about her audio samples, of a very relatable and heartfelt point, “By capturing moments in time, it's a way to not lose or forget the sound of your parents' voice. I never want to forget the sound of my siblings laughing. It's those moments that I want my kids to be able to look back, and have these core moments of understanding of ‘this is where I come from’… this might explain why I laugh a certain way, or why I have such a reaction to certain things… it's a very subtle way for me to pay tribute to my loved ones.”  

Besides time, travel has been an essential thread in Lela’s story. Whether in Morocco, Southeast Asia or Scandinavia, she finds echoes of Arizona wherever she goes — sounds, colors and sensations that tie her back to her roots. For Lela, capturing these moments and transforming them through her art is both a meditation on memory and a celebration of diversity.

Asked about her legacy, Lela’s answer, “With my artwork, the biggest thing that I want to be able to leave for my kids, family and friends are the moments of my life, visually and audibly.”

The Tech that Powers Lela’s Passion

For Lela, life is a whirlwind — juggling a day job, motherhood, marriage, and an ever-evolving artistic practice. Time for creation is precious, carved out in moments between obligations. In these windows, technology becomes more than a tool; it is a lifeline, a partner in the pursuit of inspiration. “The right device is key to everything I do no matter where I am,” notes Lela.

Her Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge, powered by the highest performing Snapdragon X Elite processor, is critical to her workflow, providing the power and performance needed to handle demanding tasks like editing photography and video or transferring large data files, sometimes while on the go and unplugged.

“The tech space moves so fast now, it could take me maybe 15 minutes tops to be able to upload, even batch edit just to start quickly processing," Lela notes. With Galaxy Book4 powered by the Snapdragon X Elite processor, she can go full power, full speed — up to 90 percent faster than other processors when unplugged¹ — and not have to worry about the PC getting hot or laggy. Plus, her work often takes her to remote locations, emphasizing the need for extended battery life. PCs with Snapdragon X Elite, like Galaxy Book4, can provide up to 22 hours of battery life² on a single charge.

Watch for more Snapdragon Unplugged

Galaxy Book4 Edge PC powered by Snapdragon empowers creators like Lela to push creative boundaries wherever and whenever inspiration happens. By powering high-performance, ultra-efficient devices, Snapdragon X Series processors are enabling an ever-growing pool of new generation artists to bring their most ambitious ideas to life.

This is the second in a series of Snapdragon Unplugged blog posts, highlighting creators who are breaking new ground using devices powered by Snapdragon. Are you ready to embrace your own passions and explore what’s possible with a PC powered by Snapdragon X Elite?

Watch for more Snapdragon Unplugged videos to discover more inspiring stories of visionaries who are redefining the future of art and technology. 

Experience Lela's story visually and emotionally through the lens of Snapdragon on their Instagram post: Snapdragon (@snapdragonofficial) • Instagram photos and videos. 

Learn more about Snapdragon X Elite processors.

See all apps compatible with Snapdragon X Elite processors here.

Editor's Note: Portions of the quotes from the above interview with Lela were transcribed and edited for clarity.

Snapdragon branded products are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.

¹ CPU Performance is based on Geekbench v6.2 Single-Core on Windows 11 OS run in October 2024. Snapdragon X Elite (XIE-80-100) was tested using a Dell XPS 13 (9345) on “Balanced” Power Mode in Windows and “Optimized” in Dell Power Manager. Intel Core Ultra 7 256V was tested using a Dell XPS 13 (9350) on “Balanced” Power Mode in Windows and “Standard mode” in Windows and “Optimized” in Dell Power Manager. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 was tested using an ASUS VivoBook S14 (M5406WA) on “Balanced” Power Mode in Windows and “Standard mode” in MyASUS. Power and performance comparison reflects results based on measurements and hardware instrumentation of given devices.

² Battery life varies significantly based on device, usage, settings, and other factors. Please visit snapdragon.com/claims for additional information.