I’m so excited to announce that PICA, the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, has commissioned me to make a VR artwork based on my (unpublished) picture book and painting sequence Marcus and the Shadow! It will be part of the XR:WA festival that brings VR, AR and MR creators and professionals together in Perth.
Marcus and the Shadow follows the story of a young boy who meets his Shadow, a black winged lion that haunts him. He must learn to cope with difficult emotions like grief, sadness and despair in order to learn to ride astride his Shadow. Initially created as a picture book with fountain pen illustrations, the VR presentation creates an immersive environment with soundscapes and interactivity, to portray a message of hope and resilience against the odds. Made with Unity Developer and real-life VR wizard Stacey Fazackerley and New York composer Sam Torres providing a haunting track ’18’, as well as poetry sung by myself and stunning 360 degree visuals.
Here are some screenshots and some of the paintings that this experience brings to life!




It was an absolute pleasure working with PICA, the VR/AR mentors and Stacey and Sam on this artwork, and Sofia and the Utopia Machine is even an easter egg in the VR experience! If you get a chance to see this, do have a look inside one of those sneaky drawers…

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