Wishing
Wishing
Romeo Roxman Gatt & Costas Kazantzis
“There is no soul
only a black hole
searching for a body that
can one day be called a home”
Wishing is a 3D animated work that reflects on the difficulty of belonging while holding space for hope, care, and the possibility of home. Rooted in lived experience, it navigates a world that can feel brutal and unyielding, yet insists on dreaming as a way to imagine otherwise.
The project critically engages with digital platforms as sites of self-expression and community-building. While these systems promise connection, they often remain impersonal, restrictive, and shaped by invisible infrastructures of control. Wishing responds by proposing alternative, more intimate digital spaces.
Developed using Unreal Engine 5, the work draws from gaming and 3D environments while deliberately resisting traditional game structures of speed, reward, and spectacle. Instead, it integrates photogrammetry, avatar creation, animation, and world-building to transform the music video into a fully immersive, virtual experience that foregrounds queer and trans representation.
At the centre of the piece is the Warrior Heart Gear—a silicone-cast sculpture embedded with hair, inspired by hockey protective clothing. Existing between fashion and armour, it functions as both a protective shell and a symbol of resilience. Translated into the digital world and worn by the avatar, it challenges how bodies and garments are represented in virtual space, turning fashion into a site of emotional expression and speculative embodiment.
Wishing ultimately invites a rethinking of digital selfhood—moving away from controlled, corporate platforms toward more inclusive, artist-led environments where identity, community, and imagination can unfold on new terms.
Wishing