NDD stands for nature deficit disorder, a phrase coined by the writer Richard Louv in a 2005 book, “Last Child in the Woods.” Ms. Hovnanian first saw the term used on a psychology website called Positive Prescription, and it resonated with her own ideas about humans needing some contact with nature to be healthy, whether that means seeing mountains on the horizon or touching mud.

The artist’s Immersion Room is an elaborate indoor installation that meticulously recreates a forest at night. You enter with lanterns, one or two at a time through mirrored swinging doors, to walk on leaves and a wood stump path under towering, fragrant fir trees. The sound of crickets and rushing water fills the darkness. A fake campfire flickers under an artificial sky full of stars where there’s a log to sit on or a camping cot for anyone who cares to lie down. All of this is next to the West Side Highway.

“When I’m anxious I always go to the park,” said Leila Heller, the gallerist behind Ms. Hovnanian’s multigenre and satirical installations. “But kids don’t know how to do that these days because they’re on their phones.” That said, the show is drawing crowds.

Visitors are free to sit and linger and many do. They can’t, however, take pictures or text their friends.