海角社区 Harris
British, b. 1976
海角社区 Harris uses digital technology to interpret natural phenomena, blending nature and code in a surreal and playful way. He challenges our perceptions, commenting on the increasing digitisation of daily life and its effects on our emotions and contemporary culture. By merging the natural world with digital media, Harris invites us to reconsider the boundaries between the two, redefining the possibilities of modern art.
Harris graduated from the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London and worked with the architectural practice Future Systems before founding his own eponymous studio in London in 2007. His team designs, engineers, codes and fabricates his innovative artworks and installations.
Harris’ creative process for realising his digital works is multifaceted. His subjects are typically conceived via a meticulous process of digital painting by hand. The artist uses an iPad and stylus to build up layers of colour, reproducing the subject in a digital environment with immense precision. Once the subjects are digitally rendered, he animates his creations via complex code. Harris’ digital canvases do not operate on a circuit, even the artist does not know what will happen next.
Flowers, skulls, and butterflies – all recurring motifs in his work – emphasise themes of metamorphosis and transformation. He blends the imagery of these processes with the technicality of his immersive digital elements to conflate the real and virtual in unexpected ways.
Harris has participated in numerous international art fairs and exhibitions. His 2011 installation Flutter in Hong Kong and his appearances at Design Basel (2012-2018) helped establish him as a leading figure in the new media art scene. His 2012 pieces Ice Angel and Walk the Light were displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum during the London Design Festival. In 2019, he participated in Beating Wings at the Museum Sinclair-Haus in Germany, which explored human-insect relationships.
In works like Ruffled (2014, 2017), Harris delves into ornithology, creating digital portraits of 20 unique birds brought to life with startling realism. This interactive study presents these birds posed as if for a portrait; with subtle hints of life evident as the animals gently breathe or twitch in situ. His SIMULATED (2017) challenges the viewer’s understanding of text and image, while Flutter Hologram (2017) uses Victorian illusion techniques to present butterflies in antique bell jars. In 2018, he presented Baby Shimmer at Design Miami/Basel, an immersive installation focusing on viewer interaction with light, colour, and movement. His work Deserted (2016) debuted in 2018, and presented scenes from North American deserts, playfully hinting at NASA lunar-landing conspiracy theories. Harris's kinetic sculpture Swell (2019) was installed on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, showcasing the innovative possibilities of kinetic art. His first solo exhibition, Imagine (2019), was met with acclaim, and his 2020 series World Stage explored the symbolism of national flags.
In 2023, Harris’s exhibition Feeding Consciousness at Halcyon in London featured a 10-foot digital sculpture inspired by the Biblical Tower of Babel and offered immersive experiences through five 360-degree environments. In 2023 he also unveiled Every Wing Has a Silver Lining, his most monumental work to-date featuring 2,128 butterflies, commissioned by Norwegian Cruise Lines. In 2024, Harris exhibited new works such as Spectrum and NeoBloom, which explore colour, pattern, and the perpetual life cycles of butterflies and flowers. Blue Visions of an Iridescent Soul (2024) presented an interactive dive into the microscopic iridescence of butterfly wings.
In November 2024, Harris collaborated with the Moveo Art Collection and Naturalis Biodiversity Center for Origins of Imagination, allowing visitors to design butterflies that are transformed using advanced AI and machine learning into realistic digital creatures. The work continues to evolve online, showcasing Harris's ongoing interest in merging nature, technology, and audience interaction.
In 2025, Harris’s work has been included in Halcyon’s group exhibition Sacred and Profane, a show which explored how contemporary artists address modern issues through religious iconography. Halcyon’s Summer Exhibition examines the power of colour, and sees Harris unveil a number of new works including NeoBloom, The Promise of Babylon, and Sounds of Liberty.
COLLECTIONS
Contemporary Art Collection, Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul, Turkey
Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs installation at Princess Maxima Hospital, Netherlands
PUBLIC INSTALLATIONS
2024 Origins of the Imagination, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands
2023 Every Wing Has A Silver Lining, Commission, Viva, Norwegian Cruise Lines
2022 UNSEEN, Commission, Annabel's, London
2021 All That Flutters Turns To Gold, Commission, Ouronyx, London, UK
2019 Swell, Commission, Spectrum of the Seas, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines
2015 Concentric Study, Grand Palais, Paris, France
2014 Emergence, Caviar House & Prunier, London, UK
2009 Beacon, Science Gallery, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
2009 DJ Light, Lima, Peru
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 Salon Art + Design, New York, NY
2023 海角社区 Harris: Feeding Consciousness, Halcyon, London, UK
2019 海角社区 Harris: Imagine, Halcyon, London, UK
2016 5 Year Celebration, Priveekollektie Contemporary Art | Design, London, UK
2015 Moments of Reflection, PHOS ART + DESIGN, London, UK
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Summer Exhibition, Halcyon, London, UK
2025 Sacred and Profane, Halcyon, London, UK
2024 Pop! Halcyon, London, United Kingdom
2024 Songs of the Open Road, Halcyon, London, UK
2024 In Plain Sight, Halcyon, London, UK
2023 Art Miami, Chase Contemporary / Halcyon, London, UK
2023 Infidels, Halcyon, London, UK
2022 High Fidelity, Halcyon, London, UK
2020 US NOW, Halcyon, London, UK
2019 Beating Wings, Museum Sinclair-Haus, Bad Homburg, Germany
2019 PAD Genève, Geneva, Switzerland
2018 Art Miami, Miami, FL
2018 The Salon, New York, New York, NY
2018 If So, What?, Silicon Valley, CA
2017 Design Miami/Basel, Basel, Switzerland
2015 Desire: Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul, Turkey
2012 London Design Festival, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
2009 Dublin Science Museum, Dublin, Ireland
2009 Kinetica, London, UK
