Olivia McGilchrist 
2022
Virtual ISLANDs explores the relationship between the experience of virtual immersion in VR and the physicality of being submerged, offering viewers audio-visual interpretations of the ebb and flow of water around them. The project invites a reading of VR’s virtual space—foregrounding submersion alongside immersion—to highlight the relation between water and the fluidity of hybrid identities, inspired by the artist’s dual Caribbean and European heritage.
In the 6DOF VR experience of Virtual ISLANDs, viewers enter an aquatic scene to observe the choreographed movements of Newfoundland aerial performer Keely Whitelaw, rendered as a particle effect. A large tidal wave traverses the visual plane, inviting viewers to navigate alongside Whitelaw’s gestural response to this virtual underwater experience.
This artwork is presented as a world premiere.
