Ornagh is a self-taught Irish artist whose bold and unapologetic work explores themes of political and social issues, like societal expectations of gender and sexual diversity, through extended reality (XR) art. Based in London, she has embraced cutting-edge technologies like 3D scanning, motion capture, and virtual reality to create immersive, surrealist environments.

For Ornagh, XR is a limitless canvas — one that allows her to build entire worlds free from physical constraints. Through her work, she reimagines past experiences, giving them new narratives and resolutions. Ornagh’s work invites viewers to step into these immersive digital spaces, reflecting on the balance between light and dark, chaos and order, and the tensions that shape our lives. Through XR, she challenges perceptions and offers a space for deeper understanding and dialogue.

We asked Ornagh about her art, creative process, and inspirations.

*Your Mine, 2023, Virtual Reality Photography.*

Can you tell us about your background as a digital artist? How did you get started in this field?

I got started in art almost by chance. My teachers encouraged me to pursue university for art, but it wasn't interesting and it wasnt until 2009 that I began creating my own projects. Within a year, I had developed my first immersive experience, combining video, live performance, costumes, and a narrative that ran throughout. This laid the foundation for what has become the core of my practice.

Through the years, I continued integrating video art with immersive experiences, taking inspiration from queer spaces and exploring drag, using it as a medium to blend performance with video art. However, it was only in the past four years that my practice shifted toward extended reality (XR).

*Beyond the Glitter, A Glow. 2024. AI, photography Collage*

In 2021, I discovered AR apps and became fascinated by the potential of adding floating AR objects to video outputs. This exploration opened up a new world for me, and within a few months, I was participating in my first Immersive Storytelling Lab. It was there that I realized the incredible possibilities of digital technologies. I began learning Unity and other real-time engines, which allowed me to build digital worlds unbound by physical constraints like scale and budget.

*Death did us part, 2023, Virtual Reality Photography*

As a long-time scrapbooker, I’ve always been drawn to preserving and reimagining memories, and XR felt like a natural extension of this. The ability to create entire exhibition experiences within a digital space sparked a passion that has since defined my work. Today, I see myself as an immersive XR artist, dedicated to pushing the boundaries of storytelling and combining my background in video art with cutting-edge technologies.

What drew you to the world of extended reality, and how has this medium allowed you to explore the themes of freedom and self-discovery?

The world of extended reality (XR) drew me in because it felt like discovering a limitless canvas. I’ve always been fascinated by storytelling and creating immersive experiences, but XR offered a way to go beyond the physical constraints of the real world — whether those constraints were scale, budget, or even gravity. The idea of building entire worlds where I could bring memories, emotions, and abstract ideas to life captivated me from the start.

For me, XR is inherently liberating. Building digital worlds has let me reimagine past experiences, giving them a new narrative and a sense of resolution. It’s an empowering process.

*Patience, 2024, Virtual Reality Photography*

I use XR to foster dialogue and reflection on themes like freedom, yin and yang, and opposing forces by creating surreal VR environments where people can step into these ideas. Within these worlds, the iconography, art, and experiences are designed to immerse participants in a space that’s free from real-world constraints. This freedom allows them to engage with these themes on a deeper level, exploring the interplay of light and dark, chaos and order, and other dualities in a way that feels personal and transformative. By building these immersive spaces, I aim to give people the chance to reflect on these tensions and find new perspectives within the balance and complexity of life.

Broke Bad, 2024. Virtual Reality Exhibition and Mixed Reality Video 2 — *Broke Bad, 2024. Virtual Reality Exhibition and Mixed Reality Video*

Your work often explores political and social issues, like societal expectations of gender and sexual diversity. How do you use your XR art to create conversations around these themes?

For example, in Ode to Him, I challenged societal expectations of women’s roles in the home — highlighting the pressure for women to always be available for cooking and cleaning. I explore gender diversity through my performances, embodying male, female, and non-humanoid characters. This allows me to elevate and play with the feminine and masculine, using them in unexpected ways across different characters. I’ve also explored creating queer club spaces, crafting immersive environments where diverse identities can be celebrated freely.

These experiences are layered with symbolism, visual contrasts, and interactive elements that push participants to consider how these constructs affect not only individuals but entire communities. By immersing audiences in these stories, XR makes the abstract tangible, enabling them to feel the emotional weight of these issues and fostering empathy. My goal is to spark conversations about freedom, empowerment, and the beauty of diversity — encouraging people to see beyond societal expectations and embrace the complexity of human identity.

You’ve mentioned using motion capture to explore dance and movement in XR. What excites you about merging choreography with digital worlds, and how do you envision the final experience?

What excites me about merging choreography with digital worlds is that it allows me to reconnect with my own dance practice, which has been a significant part of my life since I was a child. I started ballet at six, explored various forms of contemporary dance through my teens, and eventually joined a hip-hop dance team, competing into my twenties. Dance has always been a core part of who I am, but in recent years, I felt it was being neglected. When I started exploring XR and learned about motion capture, it felt like the perfect way to reintroduce dance into my daily life and continue developing it as I grow older.

As for the final experience, I don’t envision just one — it’s more about creating multiple layers of possibilities. XR Characters in a club setting dancing freely, performances in VR where dancers take the stage, or even interactive experiences where dancers circle participants and encourage them to join in. The potential is endless, much like dance is in real life, and I see infinite ways to merge it into my digital creations.

*Lovable, Virtual Reality Environment, Wearable Art, Photography*

What is a profound childhood memory?

I’ve always been a maker of clubs and collectives. One of my earliest memories is creating “The Witch Club,” which I started when I was six or seven years old. It was a small schoolyard club, but it felt so big to me at the time. I remember having a book where we’d fill out tasks and challenges, setting up new adventures every day. I’d wait eagerly to get to school, excited for the next chapter, and everyone would come to me, wanting to know what came next. In the following years, I’d lead groups of kids up and down the street, always coming up with new ideas to share and make us play. But that first club was special — looking back, it was my first experience leading a creative collective, however small. The excitement and joy of it left such an impression on me. It was the start of my love for shared creativity and storytelling, and I’ve cherished it ever since.

*Love Blossoms. 2024. Sculpture, Wearable Art*

What is a fun fact about you?

A fun fact about me is that all my creative ideas start from two very unique places. One is through energy — I’ll start free writing, and if I feel something stuck, uncomfortable, or unresolved, I’ll meditate on it, asking it what it wants to tell me. From there, the goal of the idea becomes clear, like the energy is guiding me. The other is completely different: running on the treadmill. I get the wildest visuals while I run, and they often spark some of my best ideas. My creative process almost always begins in these two ways.

*She's Here, 2024, AI Photography from original Artworks*

If you could create any immersive experience unrestricted by current technology or budget, what would it look like and what messages do you want to share?

If I were unrestricted by technology or budget, I would create a sculpture garden where the physical and digital worlds seamlessly intertwine. The garden would feature life-sized immersive sculptures that you could physically walk into and explore in the real world. Each sculpture would serve as a gateway to my XR worlds, VR experiences accessible through a browser and integrated into the sculptures in various ways, with the themes and stories of the sculptures linking directly to those in the digital experience.

*Broke Bad, 2024. Virtual Reality Exhibition and Mixed Reality Video*

It wouldn’t just be about VR — these sculptures would offer a variety of ways to experience XR technologies, creating a mixed-reality environment that connects multiple universes. The sculptures themselves would embody the iconography, characters, and narratives from my artistic world, forming a cohesive blend of storytelling across physical and digital realms. It would also have space for my friends' art and their ideas. It would be an expansive, interconnected playground for exploration, creativity, and connection—bringing my immersive worlds to life in a way that feels limitless.