Five things to know about Dominic Harris

Many works begin with digital drawing

Many of Harris’s natural subjects begin as digital drawings. He uses an iPad and stylus to build colour, texture and light in layers before the image is animated or incorporated into a larger work.

In the Arctic Souls series, each animal is first drawn with attention to its underlying anatomy. The fur is then built up in layers to describe the ways in which light and colour play across the coat.

Arctic Souls: Polar Bear, Arctic Fox, Arctic Hare, 2023

Code gives the images movement and behaviour

Some works use custom code to give their subjects movement and responsive behaviour. Rather than following a single fixed sequence, they can change according to the viewer’s actions or the information entering the work.

World Stage: UK, 2020

Participation is central to much of the work

Many of Harris’s works invite the viewer to take part rather than remain at a distance.

A gesture might scatter butterflies, alter a tide, trigger an avalanche or change the movement of stars. The response is designed as part of the meaning of each work.

In Feeding Consciousness, a tower of screens draws on current web search data. Its imagery is shaped by collective search activity rather than a fixed sequence, connecting the work to events and interests beyond the gallery.

Feeding Consciousness, 2023

Natural subjects recur throughout the practice

Birds, butterflies, polar animals, underwater habitats, flowers and celestial forms recur throughout Harris’s work. Digital processes allow these subjects to be observed closely while also asking how technology changes our relationship with the natural world.

Spectrum, 2024

Butterflies carry several layers of meaning

Butterflies recur throughout Harris’s practice as images of transformation, fragility and resilience.
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Their wing patterns also provide a structure through which Harris can work with colour, composition and collective identity.

In Metamorphosis: Unseen, invented but plausible butterflies suggest the number of species that remain undiscovered and the possibility that some may disappear before they are recorded.

In World Stage, individually patterned butterflies gather to form national flags. The work uses their differences to consider how distinct individuals form a larger collective.

Metamorphosis: Unseen, 2023