Women Light Artists – Collected Light Volume One
After 25 plus years in the world of light, it became apparent, that there is an onus on and huge visibility of male artists who work with or have worked with light within their body of work. Many are well known names and are often cited as inspiration in the work of lighting designers. Whilst, there are a few names that come up when discussing female light artists – the financially successful artist; Yayoi Kusama, the political rebel; Jenny Holzer and lover of daylight; Nancy Holt, like the rest of the art world, the exposure of their work is less and our knowledge of light artists remains unbalanced in terms of gender. If you want to prove this further, just type the words “Light Artist” into Google – out of the first 15 artists shown by the worlds leading search engine only two are female.
The Women in Lighting project inspired Light Collective to look at all aspects of representation in the field of light. We found and researched over 150 women creating light based art which led to the curation of the book — a small step towards trying to redress the unfair imbalance in visibility and will be available for purchase at both the exhibition and online, after the event has finished.
Light Collective asked over 40 women to participate by sharing images of their work. From immersive environments to reactive light, beautiful glowing objects to light that tells a story, this collection of light art from women artists includes a multitude of manipulations of the medium. Directing the viewer to contemplate colour, nature, politics, life and even death, the true power of light as an artistic medium is perfectly portrayed by the artists included.
Our hope is that by profiling these women artists who use light within their work, we are opening a door for others to do the same and for all to be celebrated and widely known for what they create. We also hope that the beauty of each piece of work offers inspiration to those who discover it and, whilst created by women, is valued asincredible art, non-dependent on gender.
More info to come soon!
