Amazon – Raised Up Sky is a new artwork that uses frontier technologies to scan significant Amazonian trees and build a fully immersive and interactive digital artwork in VR that takes viewers on a journey deep into the scientific and spiritual currents of the Amazon rainforest.

I began this project amidst the pandemic by undertaking a virtual expedition to the Amazon, conducting interviews with prominent figures in and around the Amazon to explore our physical, biological, and cultural link to trees. I have been managing a remote team who travel deep into the rainforest to scan the trees, helping me build a repository of point clouds which I am using to conduct R&D as the technology matures.

The early stages of creating this groundbreaking digital artwork are captured in a short documentary (featured below) directed by Jen Raoult. The documentary features abbreviated conversations with some of the phenomenal and passionate figures we spoke to: indigenous leaders, foremost scholars in plant physiology, photographers with unparalleled legacies of documenting this environment, and other thinkers and leaders who have dedicated their lives to understanding the Amazon from the inside out.

Against the sobering backdrop of the climate crisis, the enforced stillness of the past year has revealed the true extent of the growing disharmony between humans and the natural world. As a consequence, people are seeking to connect with nature more than ever. This artwork is about awe, wonder, resolution and renewal as we show the path to rebuilding this connection.

By developing these perspectives into an epic art installation that brings to life the scale and magnificence of the trees, my aim is to bring an intimate sense of the rainforest to urban populations, facilitating a connection between audience and the Amazon, and emphasising the rainforest’s global significance.