IB VISUAL ARTS 2025

LAURA

Curatorial Rationale

The main concept in my exhibition is A Sanctuary from Reality. In moments of stress, loneliness, or emotional exhaustion, the anime and gaming world has become my emotional anchor. Within virtual characters, I have found companionship, comfort, and even a reason to keep going. This exhibition explores the multi-dimensional connections between the virtual and the real, ranging from emotional support to immersive interaction, and finally to physical transformation.

My nine artworks can be divided into two main directions. The first group of works traces the evolution of a character, from a static digital drawing to a fully tangible figure. This includes an original 2D illustration, followed by a Live2D animation with blinking and breathing motions, then a 3D model created in Blender, and finally a 3D-printed sculpture. Together, they represent the journey of a fictional character “from nothing to something, from far to near.” This progression mirrors my own emotional connection to virtual characters, turning intangible comfort into a visible, touchable form.

The second group of works focuses on emotional experience. I express the psychological states people encounter when facing the virtual world—desire, dependence, escape—through physical paintings and mixed media. For example, Connect Me adopts the style of early Japanese anime, featuring elongated limbs and sharp lines to convey the intensity of wanting to enter a fictional world. Breakthrough was an exploration of materials; I combined acrylic paint, 3D sculpted polymer clay, and UV resin to create the illusion of a character bursting out of the canvas, symbolizing her literal and emotional breach of the dimensional wall.

One major challenge during this process was selecting the most appropriate medium and color scheme for each piece. Through practice and experimentation, I learned to adjust palettes and material textures to better reflect my conceptual intentions. I found that switching between mediums—from digital to physical—allowed me to reinforce the idea of “crossing dimensions” both visually and structurally.

The oil painting was the most time-consuming and meaningful piece for me. I aimed to portray a tender moment where a blue-toned virtual character leans out of a screen to kiss a crying girl from the real world—offering a fragile but powerful kind of comfort. My 3D-printed sculpture also carries personal weight. It was created while I was bedridden after a car accident, and during that time, the virtual world was one of the few things that helped me feel connected and seen. That period inspired me to design a character and give form to the emotional support I received.

A major artistic inspiration for my work is the Japanese illustrator Ikuta (@ikuta41). Her illustrations often depict isolated characters in surreal yet detailed environments—struggling with identity, detachment, or emotional disconnection. I was especially influenced by how her characters are placed in dreamlike spaces with warped perspectives or technological overlays, which echoes my own attempts to portray the emotional link between reality and virtuality. Her use of color palettes and lighting also inspired my oil and digital works, especially in creating a soft but distant atmosphere.

The exhibition is arranged to move from 2D to 3D, guiding the viewer from imagination to presence. I hope the audience not only sees the works as objects but also feels the embedded emotions within them—perhaps even recalling times when they, too, turned to the virtual world for understanding, healing, or escape.

Ultimately, this exhibition is not just about showing my own emotional journey, but about creating a shared space where others might recognize their own. Whether someone once found comfort in a favorite game character or turned to a fictional world during a difficult time, I hope these works allow them to feel seen. Art becomes a bridge — not just between 2D and 3D, but between inner worlds we don’t always have words for.