From urban yards to expansive farms, sheds provide shelter, storage and sanctuary. But can there be magic in the humble garden shed? Shedding Light utilises an everyday, mundane structure to transport the viewer via peepholes into a magical world where space and light create intangible landscapes and visual illusion.
Within a shed of approx H2.24m x W2.97m x D3.04m I will create a variety of light installations using LEDs and other light forms, mirrors, and vibrant colour contrasts to create illusory landscapes, architectural light structures and visual textures. These installations will be viewed through 3 –5 peepholes around the exterior of the shed, allowing the curiosity of the viewer to draw them into exploration of an everyday structure that has become enchanting. As the light sculptures are contained within the shed, the installation will not be limited to the hours of darkness. In the daytime electrical colour schemes seem to create an urban world contained within a rural setting; at night vibrant lights create the promise of magical midnight happenings.
The interior of the shed will not be accessible and Perspex sheets will create a transparent barrier between the eye and artwork, placing the audience as an outsider, voyeuristically glimpsing an otherworldly beauty. I can visualise Shedding Light in a range of settings as it has a contextual element to its impact. Placed within a woodland clearing it heightens the excitement of exploring an unknown territory; in an open space it plays with the expectations of the viewer, providing a dichotomy between the mundane and the magical; within a building it becomes a Russian doll of architectural structure. The exterior of the shed will be painted.
