The research in this thesis explored Virtual Reality (VR) as a new tool in painting practice. The expanded field of painting has already embraced new media and will continue to evolve as technologies present themselves. To some extent, VR has been used as a media for presenting artworks, but the research continues into the application of the media for the creation of works within which both the artist and viewer experience the artwork itself. The media is not merely a form with which to view traditional painting, rather the media is the painting itself. As opposed to traditional gallery artworks, the researcher (artist) and viewer (visitor) are immersed in the artwork through the wearing of the headset and holding the paddles. This new tool of VR engages with the issues brought about by a digital culture on a digital platform and in a wholly digital reality. This allows for the concepts around a digital culture to be engaged with directly, in a digital space, and provides new potential for ways of creating and viewing painting, examining the areas of time space and aesthetic. In light of this, the research aims were to find out what VR means for fine art painting theory and practice. Does VR bring with it new ways for creating and viewing painting (i.e., spacetime, Einstein, 1905) and a new painting aesthetic that will expand the understanding of painting? The act of creating artworks in VR embraces coding, scripting, sculpting and painting, as the artist had to create the bodies to paint, as well as animating those bodies in both time and space. In this work, the researcher has undertaken all aspects of the production process to create three artworks that provide the digital work forming the practice-based research of this thesis. The thesis draws on other disciplines to inform the fine art practice, which is the focus of the thesis. Reflections on the temporal, spatial and aesthetic aspects of the VR worlds that have been created, were considered with reference to art theory and practice throughout the thesis. It is argued that the new media extend the expanded field of painting and bring new possibilities to both the artistic researcher and viewer.

Please note this thesis is under embargo. A print copy will be available for consultation at the GSA Library when the embargo expires.