A new peer-reviewed paper published in the Proceedings of EVA London 2026 examines how photography, digital processing, and paper printing can turn images into physical surfaces that reveal the gap between virtual representation and material objects. The study, titled "Fixing Chicago Neighbourhood and New Nature: Simulation with Paper and Digital Printing," is available at https://doi.org/10.14236/ewic/EVA2026.15.
The paper, authored by Jiaqi Li, Wenru Xu, and Elke Reinhuber, analyzes two artworks by Li: New Nature (2019) and Fixing Chicago Neighbourhood (2020). In New Nature, photographs of organic materials such as banana peel, chicken skin, plants, and caterpillars were processed into repeating digital textures and printed on paper. These prints were then assembled into more than fifty hollow sculptural forms. The work contrasts the visual appearance of organic matter with a lightweight, constructed interior, highlighting the separation between surface and structure.
Fixing Chicago Neighbourhood began with photographs of damaged surfaces in Chicago, including cracks in roads, walls, paving, and transit stations. Li digitally reconstructed the damaged areas and printed them at approximately their original scale. The resulting paper images were placed over the damaged sites as temporary interventions. As the paper notes, these did not repair the underlying material but made the difference between an appearance of repair and a material repair visible.
The authors position these projects between simulation, trompe l'oeil, and optical illusion. Rather than aiming for flawless deception, the works retain visible seams, repeated textures, paper edges, and other material inconsistencies. These features allow viewers to recognize the construction of the image while it occupies physical space. The paper proposes the term "expanded trompe l'oeil" for contemporary practices that extend beyond illusionistic painting to include photography, digital printing, sculpture, installation, screens, projections, public interventions, and video-game aesthetics.
The study argues that the imperfect return of a digital image to material form can reveal a productive gap between virtual representation and physical objects. This insight is significant for artists, designers, and researchers working at the intersection of digital media and material culture, as it challenges assumptions about simulation and authenticity in an era of increasingly sophisticated digital imaging.
The paper appears on pages 83-88 of the open-access Proceedings of EVA London 2026, published by BCS Learning and Development Ltd. EVA London, or Electronic Visualisation and the Arts, is an interdisciplinary conference on art, visualization, and digital technologies. The 2026 conference took place in London and online from July 13 to 17.
Surface & Signal Press, an independent arts-research communications imprint operated by Jeekwai Art Co Ltd, announced the publication. The imprint publishes factual, accessible communications about contemporary art, visual culture, digital media, and research-led creative practice, focusing on how images, materials, and technical systems shape public and everyday environments.
