The beautifully chaotic AR world of Isabelle Udo

The Instagram filter muse opens up about Augmented Reality, plants that come to life and her latest immersive masterpiece “Kandinsky in Concert”.

Photo: Courtesy of Isabelle Udo.

Isabelle Udo , whose work you might have seen when scrolling through the infinite world of Instagram stories filters, is an Amsterdam-based Augmented Reality (AR) creator and freshly graduated experimental film director from The Film Academy in Brussels. Back in 2014, Udo studied Interactive Media Design in the Netherlands.

Isabelle’s artistic background and the way she comes at creating AR filters ,where she makes Beauty and Fashion focused virtual headpieces that grow and flow organically with the movement of the users head, helped her become a freelancer working for brands and agencies. She is known for her innovative use of organic materials, vibrant colors and emotive sounds to create immersive AR experiences. Her work is cross-disciplinary, as she uses different softwares and hardwares to create her artwork digitally, but also incorporating analogue in the form of interactive installations and light sculptures.

Isabelle shared with We The Cool Magazine her experience and perspective on building a career as an AR creator, the influences that helped her shape her artistic style, and some advices for aspiring Augmented Reality creatives.

Karen: How did you start as an AR developer? Did you explore other forms of art before?

Isabelle: My journey into AR has been really great! I truly love working in audiovisual art and I’m always searching for the latest tech, design, fashion and art developments. So I started about a year ago in September 2019 when the Spark AR Studio platform of Facebook opened up for everyone to use. I just graduated as an experimental film director from The Film Academy in Brussels, Belgium and before that, I had already completed some Interactive Media Design studies.

K: How would you describe your artworks? Do you think that they have changed since your beginnings to the present?

I: My visual style definitely has changed over the course of a year. I have experimented a lot with different concepts and ideas before landing on the visual code you can see in my works right now. I really love the intricate patterns found in nature and my goal is to mimic this organised chaos making use of technological innovations. I do feel like I have found a certain visual style in these colourful AR headpieces I’ve been making. I’m very keen on working in specific themes for every experience I make. This way the effect is easily readable and has a clear message.

K: What artists inspire you? Could you give us some examples of specific artworks that have influenced your style?

I: Erik Winkowski and his quirky digital sketchbook always makes me happy. Jeffrey Bryant (Ecco Screen) truly amazes me with this interactive shader based visuals and beautiful installations. Kitasenju Design is another digital artist that I’m deeply impressed by. They create super interesting visuals using AR software. The AR community is expanding vastly and throughout my journey I have made many great friends who I look up to regarding their digital art. I feel like slowly, but surely, there is a place created for digital artists in the artworld and this is very exciting to me.

K: It sounds very exciting! How did you develop your aesthetics and style? Was it the result of an experimental process?

I: At first I was a bit lost in creating an efficient workflow. I really didn’t know that much about 3D modelling softwares so this was definitely my biggest challenge to overcome since I knew I wanted to make use of 3D models in my work. Through spending every free moment practicing I started to get familiar with the software and after half a year I was able to create AR in a way that I imagined. I work a lot with Blender, Cinema 4D the Adobe Suite, Spark AR Studio, Lens studio and I’ve recently started experimenting with Touchdesigner, Unity, ARKit and Procreate. At the moment I have a small Design Studio and I feel very lucky to be able to work for beautiful brands. When I’m not working for brands I’m in a constant state of research and Development.

K: Can’t wait for that to happen! What subject matters interest you the most and how do you portray them in your art?

I: As I’ve talked about before, Nature is one of my biggest inspirations. But I also really love to look at pop culture, the art world and Greek mythology. For me it’s important that people have a certain sense of recognition or link with their own daily life when they use my effects.

K: Can you tell us a story behind any of your works that somehow is special for you?

I: One of my face filters is called FACEPLANT. This is one of my first successful effects that I really enjoyed creating. It was loosely inspired by a runway show of Comme des Garcons mixed with the need of making an extravagant crown in AR using organic materials. It was amazing seeing so many people enjoying this effect for the first time and it still makes me smile when I think about it. At the moment a lot of my work involves plants and I really enjoy making it look and move as organic as possible.

K: Which are your predictions for the future of Digital Arts?

I: To me, digital art and the advancement of technology are two forces propelling each other forward. Technology is advancing at a fast pace and possibilities are endless for digital designers to create anything without even leaving their house. Technological development will only accelerate and I’m looking forward to being part of this new wave in art and design.

K: You mentioned on your Instagram account that you have always been fascinated by the synaesthetic works of Wassily Kandinsky, and from this idea, you created an audio reactive awesome and immersive masterpiece. Can you explain to us what it is?

I: The AR effect “Kandinsky in Concert” really came from a place of research and development. I was given access to the Spark AR beta feature ‘audio analyzer’. The goal was to make a compelling piece of art using and experimenting with the new audio reactivity feature. The first thing that came to my mind was how world famous artist Wasily Kandinsky visualized sounds. It was a logical choice for me to digitise one of his paintings: On White II.

K: You were part of the artist line up of this year’s The Digital Art Month, a creative celebration of digital and new media launched last October. Can you tell us more about this experience?

I: Being one of the featured artists at Digital Art Month was an amazing experience, even though I was very sad that I wasn’t able to go visit NYC during the time my work was on display. Luckily some friends made some footage of the effects in New York!

K: So how do you think the pandemic has influenced your work?

I: On one hand (and knowing how harsch this will sound), digital art has made a great step because of the lockdowns due to Covid-19. Since people are unable to experience art in a physical way, digital art galleries and experiences have flourished. I also felt this as an AR creator. People’s screen time has dramatically increased in the last year. I think that, even when the covid-19 situation is over, our daily life has irreversibly changed. The way we work and the way we interact with each other will never go back to how it was before. 2020 is a year of big changes for everyone including me.

K: What type of satisfaction do you get from your work?

I: The biggest joy I get from creating AR effects is seeing the users interact and enjoying my work. It’s amazing how people are creating their own narrative to my effects to tell their own story. I’ve also been awarded with a trophy from Facebook for “my contributions and continued success within Augmented Reality”. These types of recognitions give me a lot of energy to continue my journey of interactive design and digital fashion striving to push the boundaries of technology as much as I can.