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Untitled, 2023, VR Digital drawing 1, Wa wọ project, 2023 by Artist Tomilola Olumide

Untitled, 2023 | VR Digital drawing

wò ó, 2023 | Virtual Reality x Mixed Media

Materials (Plaster and found objects, fabrics, metal wires, kankan sponge fibres and mirrors)

wò ó means ‘come and see’ in my Yoruba language. It was chosen as a project title to convey sarcastic and playful expressions of the overwhelm and physical disorientation I experienced during my first few sessions of navigating immersive virtual reality technology at the start of my Spot VR residency at Stryx Gallery, Birmingham which was held between September and November 2023.

wò ó began with experimentation between the creation of free-form digital drawings in dark voids of space with the VR software ‘Open Brush and Gravity Sketch’, the creation of augmented reality 3D models of physical sculptures from ‘In Own Image (2019)’; and further productions of physical sculptures which mimicked structural attributes and sensibilities portrayed within the textural and aesthetic attributes of some of my earlier made digital VR drawings from September like ‘Purple Infinity (2023)’.

The end parallels between both modes of creation in the virtual and physical realm led me to observe the projection of subjects from my mental and muscle memory, identity and tactile experiences translated as expressions of making and being. Where even play was made manifest through concepts, tactical imprints of textures and the assemblage of material bodies through drawing and moulding techniques into intangible and physical expressions that explore materiality in the virtual and physical realm. Such as my sculpture and installation work in materials plaster, metal and fabric, like ‘Untitled series, Plaster on board (2023), KanKan, Metal wire, (2023) and Untitled, Fabric drawing on wall, (2023).’

Untitled, 2023  Installation, Fabric drawing on wall (Fabrics, plaster, mirrors), Wa wọ project, 2023 by Artist Tomilola Olumide

 

Untitled, 2023 | Installation, Fabric drawing on wall (Fabrics, plaster, mirrors)

Photograph by Marcin Sz

Through the juxtapositioning of iridescent conal structures created with organza fabric material and hovering circular mirrors, the Untitled (2023) installation projects a physical representation of aesthetic and structural attributes from the digital drawings ‘Untitled and Purple Infinity (2023)’ created in virtual reality, alongside the physical disorientation I intermediately experienced while immersed in the virtual realm and moments after in the real world. The purpose of this piece is to show a physically tactile assemblage of the above experiences which was not present in the virtual realm which is only audiovisually accessible.

Purple infinity, 2023, VR Digital drawing, 7&8, Wa wọ project, 2023 by Artist Tomilola Olumide

 

Purple infinity, 2023 | VR Digital drawing

Free-form drawings in the virtual realm created with virtual reality software Open brush & Gravity Sketch 3D Model Sculpture videos

Surrender & Waka, In Own Image series, 2019 _ 3D Model video, Wa wọ project, 2023 by Artist Tomilola Olumide

Surrender & Waka, In Own Image Sculpture series, 2019 | 3D Models

Untitled series, 2023  Sculpture (Plaster drawings on canvas board), 1&2, Wa wọ project, 2023 by Artist Tomilola Olumide

 

Untitled series, 2023 | Sculpture (Plaster drawings on canvas board)

Kankan, 2023, VR Digital drawing, 1, Wa wọ project, 2023 by Artist Tomilola Olumide

 

Kankan, 2023 | VR Digital drawing

KanKan nest, 2023, Sculpture (Kankan sponge fibres, plaster), Wa wọ project, 2023 by Artist Tomilola Olumide

 

KanKan nest, 2023 | Sculpture (Kankan sponge fibres, plaster)

KanKan, 2023, Sculpture (Metal wire), 1&2, Wa wọ project, 2023 by Artist Tomilola Olumide

KanKan metal, 2023 | Sculpture (Metal wire), 1&2

Kan Kan is an indigenous West African bathing sponge, I have memories of it from my childhood with my grandmother and after just receiving some from my mother a few weeks ago I created a digital drawing in VR  as well as sculptures with plaster and metal wire that was inspired by the fibres of the sponge. In making this drawing there was a lot of dizziness, due to mimicry in following the sphere of strands, whines, twirls and underbelly between grooves and knots. I found myself dancing in an effort to mimic the structures of this sponge while remembering the harshness of its texture and its effectiveness in ridding your body of any muck. Ahh memories from Ibadan.....

Cho cho cho (Tongues) series, 2023, Sculpture (Plaster), Wa wọ project, 2023 by Artist Tomilola Olumide

Cho cho cho (Tongues) series, 2023 | Sculpture (Plaster)

A physical manifestation of abstract human tongues from the VR digital drawing ‘Purple infinity, 2023’.

Psychedelic Crystal Fusion & Discord Obscured, In Own Image, Alt series, 2019, Digital montages by Artist Tomilola Olumide

Psychedelic Crystal Fusion & Discord Obscured, In Own Image, Alt series, 2019 | Digital montages

Wonderland Yellow & Variation calabash, In Own Image, Alt series, 2019, Digital montages​​ by Artist Tomilola Olumide

 

Wonderland Yellow & Variation calabash, In Own Image, Alt series, 2019 | Digital montages​​

Wa wọ Virtual Exhibition, 2023 | Stryx VR Gallery by Artist Tomilola Olumide

 

wò ó Virtual Exhibition, 2023 | Stryx VR Gallery

Wa wọ Physical Exhibition, 2023 | Stryx Gallery by Artist Tomilola Olumide

 

wò ó Physical  Exhibition, 2023 | Stryx Gallery, Minerva Works, Digbeth

© 2024 Tomilola Olumide, All Rights Reserved
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