An immersive virtual reality experience created in collaboration with illustrator Anna Lustberg. The project transformed her charming 2D illustrations into a massive, life-sized 3D art fair, allowing viewers to step directly into her creative world. The experience was presented publicly at the Chinatown Soup gallery in New York City.
The first challenge was conceptual: taking the project's inspiration, a single framed illustration of an art fair, and expanding its world into an entire virtual experience. This meant translating Anna's unique 2D illustrative style into a 3D space that felt both expansive and authentic. It required carefully adapting her characters and artwork into life-sized assets while keeping the charm of the original drawings.
The second challenge was technical: building a stable, large scale virtual world. I designed and constructed a massive greenhouse style structure, larger than several football fields, that housed her entire art catalog in what looked like an infinitely large art fair. Reminiscent of one you would see in Miami for Art Basel or Scope.
The final task was to set the stage for the viewer. I produced a short documentary on Anna's process to act as an introduction, grounding the surreal VR experience with a personal story before the lighting in the space faded in, revealing the magnitude of it all.
The "Open Mind" VR experience was a successful fusion of traditional illustration and immersive technology. At the Chinatown Soup exhibition, gallery visitors were able to wear a VR headset and literally walk into the artist's imagination, exploring a seemingly endless art fair filled with her work and characters. The project provided a completely new way to engage with an artist's portfolio, transforming passive viewing into active exploration. By expanding a single print into an entire universe, the experience offered a memorable and powerful look into Anna Lustberg's creative mind.
Watch the video featurette below.
