Exhibition Dates:
August 22nd – September 30th, 2025

Curated by:
Cansu Peker

Spotlight Event:
Monday, September 1st at 1 pm

Location:
Window On Hudson
“The Storefront”
43 S 3rd Street
Hudson, NY

*Moments from the installation of Blink Twice, Digital Arts Blog’s augmented reality exhibition curated by Cansu Peker for The Hudson Eye Festival in Hudson, NY. Photo by Karolina Kowarz.*

Blink Twice explores the threshold between the visible and invisible, between what’s physically present and digitally conjured. Through Augmented Reality (AR) layered on digital art prints, each work comes alive when the viewer chooses to look again.

This exhibition, the first of its kind in Hudson, is an invitation to reconsider the limits of perception in a world increasingly shaped by what we cannot touch.

The visitors of Blink Twice are welcomed with physical artworks in the space. When they scan the QR codes using their personal devices and look at the works through their phones, they see the art in a new lens.

The Augmented Reality (AR) layer of Blink Twice is accessible via visitor’s personal smartphones. They can activate the digital experiences by scanning the artwork and accompanying QR codes without needing to download any applications.

The experience is designed to be intuitive, device-friendly, and approachable for a wide range of tech comfort levels.

Curatorial Statement

“Not everything reveals itself at first glance.

Blink Twice is an exhibition in two layers: one anchored in the physical, the other waiting just beneath the surface – visible only to those willing to look again.

A printed oil painting comes to life. A photograph holds a dress that was never sewn. A hoodie whispers its hidden form when scanned. These works exist in stillness and in motion, in touch and in code. They ask us: when does something become real? When we see it? When we believe in it? When we interact with it?

In a world increasingly shaped by what we cannot touch, this collection invites a second look. Each piece asks for your participation, your gaze, your trust. And in return, it reveals something unexpected. Something you can’t hold, but can’t quite forget.

At The Hudson Eye, Blink Twice marks a threshold — a place where technology opens a new kind of vision. Where seeing becomes an act of choice. And where art comes alive only when you decide to meet it halfway.”

— Cansu Peker, curator

Participating Artists

Roy Efrat

Roy Efrat is a Berlin-based artist and PhD candidate at Freie Universität Berlin whose interdisciplinary practice spans painting, video, installation, and Augmented Reality. Drawing from queer theory, mythology, and personal memory, his work uses hybrid visual languages to explore how identities are shaped and subverted through images. Often layering physical and digital media, Roy creates interventions that disrupt dominant narratives and invite viewers to reconsider what is seen, remembered, or erased.

With roots in dance and early experiments in VHS editing and HTML coding, Roy’s creative journey has always embraced technology as both a tool and a subject. His current practice blends analog painting with XR and AR environments, extending found media and everyday imagery into new, mythic dimensions. Whether activating performance spaces or reimagining static works through digital layers, Roy’s art explores the poetic, political, and personal potentials of visibility.

Read our interview with Roy Efrat to learn more about his art, creative process, and inspirations.

“What excites me most about AR ... is the feeling (or even the certainty) that we’re in a paradigm shift. The future is literally being shaped right now. That’s both exciting and scary.

This is still early-stage technology, but under heavy research. That creates a lot of space for experimentation and development. On one side, you have artists and individuals trying to claim space in this new language and bring in content from the edges. On the other, you have major tech companies using AR - and AI - to analyze our behavior and identity, mainly for commercial purposes.

In a more dystopian future, we might only be able to “see” what’s been chosen for us through AR. I’m trying to push back against that by using it in ways that challenge those systems - through research, storytelling, and visual opposition.”

— Roy Efrat

Ida Kvetny

Ida Kvetny is an interdisciplinary artist based in Copenhagen, Denmark. She creates digital versions of her analog paint and clay works using VR, AR, and AI technologies. In addition to her site-specific works, the artist showcases her virtual universes and augmented sculptures worldwide.

Her work has been featured in shows in Denmark, New York, London, Berlin, Los Angeles, and more. The artist has received several grants and awards, including The Royal Scottish Academy Painters Prize, Yelva Nimb Honoray Scholarship, and Niels Wessel Baggers Foundation grant, and has been selected as the artist in residence by prestigeous foundations in Europe and the US.

Ida Kvetny is also featured in 10 Digital Artists: Augmented Reality Art

*Eyes On The Prize by Ida Kvetny. 3D-scanned plaster sculpture, digitally painted, augmented reality sculpture.*
A hybrid work that merges classical plaster with digital painting and augmented reality. Gold and black motifs transform the figure into a mythic-futuristic presence, exploring vision, identity, and transformation.

Vanessa Nawka

Vanessa Nawka is a mixed media artist whose work bridges spirituality and technology. Rooted in both painting and sculpture, her practice focuses on reinterpreting sacred symbols — most notably the Aegean Glyphs, inspired by the Greek Mati — and creating sculptural visions of the Divine. Her pieces exist both physically and digitally, often expanded through AR and VR into immersive environments that invite viewers to step into a living, breathing artwork.

Guided by a belief that spirituality and technology can coexist as tools of connection, Vanessa combines traditional craft with digital media to create what she calls “digital rituals.” Through 3D modeling, VR, and sound, she transforms ancient symbols into futuristic experiences. Her work becomes a holistic encounter with color, form, space, and sound, reminding audiences of the quiet, healing power embedded in art.

Read our interview with Vanessa Nawka to learn more about her art, creative process, and inspirations.

“The Aegean Glyphs were born here on Hydra, a Greek island with no cars, a place that has preserved its energy and rhythm for decades. There’s something incredibly unique about this island. It’s said that the famous ley lines run just past it in the sea, but I’m quite certain they run straight through Hydra itself. You can feel it.

My connection to Greece runs deep. My father grew up here, and my grandmother lived on the island of Evia for many years. Greek was spoken in my family - my father, my aunt, my grandmother - and I grew up hearing and speaking it as a child. I was brought to Hydra as a baby, so this island isn’t just a place. It’s part of my roots.

The Mati, the Greek evil eye, is a beautiful and powerful symbol of protection. I’ve always loved its aesthetics, but even more so its deeper meaning. At some point, I felt drawn to make it the core of my artistic work. What started as a personal fascination evolved into a full visual language and eventually into Augmented Reality.

Using AR, I reimagined the Mati as something interactive and immersive. These digital paintings, created with mixed media and oil pastels, now move, speak and glow. They are accompanied by sound, spoken affirmations and 3D animation, making them feel almost like modern guardians or spiritual companions in the digital age. Like Greek icons, they carry meaning and presence, but they have been transformed into something new and personal. Something living.

Through Extended Reality, they come to life in the real world. When viewed through a mobile phone or tablet, they appear as if through a window into another dimension. They allow people to experience a moment of connection, protection and quiet presence, no matter where they are in the world.”

— Vanessa Nawka

Rory Scott

Rory Scott is a multidisciplinary artist whose work is distinguished by intricate patterns, glitter, and its cosmic sensibility. Through both digital and handmade processes, she explores impermanence, the passage of time, and the ways technology shapes humanity’s evolution.

For the past 14 years, Scott has been gathering, constructing, and deconstructing materials for 60 mixed-reality experiences that map her past and present. “What defines being human more than impermanence?” she reflects. “It’s what we all have in common but are reluctant to share. I hope when people view my work they feel a connectivity to me and our shared experience of traveling through time.” Scott lives in Detroit and is an alumna of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Rory Scott is also featured in 10 Digital Artists: Digital Fashion and Style in Web3

*Geo Gown by Rory Scott; Photograph by Pelle Waldron.*

Stephen Vineburg

Stephen Vineburg has developed a digital art practice which is focused on using immersive experiences to enhance engagement with the viewer. He uses his art to explore contemporary social issues. He has exhibited physical and digital art at the Venice Biennale as well as exhibitions in London, New York, Paris and Milan, Sydney and Brussels.

The artist has expanded his practice into digital fashion and has been part of Digital Fashion Week in Paris, Brooklyn and London. He has been recognized for his work in virtual reality and was a finalist in the Art and Film Category at the ‘Auggies’ at AWE 2024 and recently won ‘Best Experimental Film’ at the Rome International Movie Awards 2025.

He is continuing to develop his fashion brand and plans to exhibit a new Immersive Experience at a number of international film festivals in 2025.

Read our interview with Stephen Vineburg to learn more about his art, creative process, and inspirations.

*CELED by Stephen Vineburg*
“CELED” is a wry observation on contemporary affairs, where despite all the chaos and distress being experienced by the people, our leaders are perhaps more focused on their own vanity than providing leadership. Hence the figure of ‘Liberty Leading the People’ has been replaced by ‘Celebrity’ and the Tricolor replaced by a selfie.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Stephen Vineburg (@stephenvineburg)

PYTH AI is a conceptual wearable that explores the intersection of mythology, artificial intelligence, and digital fashion at a time when technology increasingly defines identity, perception, and truth.

Inspired by the Oracle of Delphi—Pythia—it reimagines the ancient prophetess through the lens of generative AI, questioning who we trust to guide us in an algorithm-driven world.

Visit the show

The exhibition opens August 22nd and will be on view during The Hudson Eye Festival and beyond. The Hudson Eye is a two week city-wide festival featuring live performances, visual arts, gallery hop, and humanities series in Hudson, NY, during August 22nd - September 1st, 2025.

Schedule an appointment with curator Cansu Peker (founder of Digital Arts Blog) for a guided tour of the exhibition, a hands-on AR activation, and a conversation about why it all matters.

Acknowledgements

Sincere thanks to The Hudson Eye organizers, Jonah Bokaer, his team, and supporting partners for making this show possible!