Having placed her body\/self at the centre of much of her earlier performance, photographic, and video work, Chun Hua Catherine Dong has turned to virtual reality and augmented reality (VR and AR) technologies for the new and immersive entry points they offer into her subject matter. Meet Me Halfway <\/em>(2021) demonstrates how, despite Dong being physically absent from the work, it is no less personal and intimate. In fact, viewers dive deep into her psyche with a VR landscape of her memories and objects related to them. This first foray into immersive technology was inspired by her experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which she reflected on the collapsing of time and space that occurred as we all isolated ourselves in our homes and found connection online. The abstract shapes, bright colours, and figurative objects depicted in the piece were all chosen for the comfort that they bring to Dong, whom we might imagine taking refuge within the safety of this digital space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mulan<\/em> (2024), another VR work, depicts the legendary folk heroine Mulan underwater in a kind of battle or dance with a mirror image of herself. The image is mostly static, as though the figures are frozen in time, preserved in their lush environment of diverse aquatic fauna and flora. Viewers can move freely around the figures, getting close enough to observe the intricate details of the dazzling Beijing opera costumes and the vibrant sea creatures that surround them. On top of being an intrinsically immersive form of performance art, Chinese opera has challenged gender norms for centuries, with men playing female roles and, later, women being allowed to perform male roles. By referring to this music form here and in her other works Reconnection<\/em> (2021) and Unmask Opera<\/em> (2023), Dong strategically uses the traditional to playfully disrupt binary systems with immersive technologies, poking holes in stereotypes and social constructs and inviting visitors into her world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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