Illustration Reimagined

Breathing Life into an Illustrated Menagerie Using XR Technologies

Illustration Reimagined explores what happens when traditional illustration meets emerging technology. Featuring 35 animal-themed prints activated by Extended Reality (XR), this exhibition invites viewers to experience hand-drawn artworks that come alive with animation, sound, and interactive digital layers.

Originally created as a city-wide scavenger hunt for the We Shine Festival of Art and Light (2022), these works have been reimagined for a gallery setting. Visitors can use their smartphones to unlock augmented elements via two dedicated apps, layering moving images and audio over static prints, or stepping into fully immersive 3D scenes.

Through this fusion of analogue and digital techniques, Nicola Hay investigates how technology reshapes illustration's role as both storytelling and sensory experience. The work also asks broader questions about authorship, authenticity, and the evolving identity of the illustrator in a rapidly changing media landscape.

Scan. Move. Listen. Explore.

This is illustration reimagined for the digital age.