From immersive environments to reactive light, from 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.
The authors have spent 25-plus years working in the world of light and lighting design, and recently it became apparent to them, 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.
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 book is a small step towards trying to redress the unfair imbalance in visibility, and Light Collective asked over 40 women to participate by sharing images of their work.
“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 as incredible art, non-dependent on gender.”
Sharon and Martin, Light Collective, November 2022
