Bright Light

I have long admired the work of Ólafur Elíasson and became acutely interested when I lived in Iceland in the spring. I got to see his work in person for the first time--Ólafur Elíasson: Tiltrú at i8 Gallery--and liked the exhibition so much, I went twice. As I said in a recent interview on Art Jewelry Forum, "Seeing work about Iceland in Iceland by a favorite artist (who also happens to be Icelandic!) was fascinating and wonderful." I also spent several mornings wandering in Harpa, the concert hall in Reykjavík that he designed the facade of.

In both i8 Gallery and in Harpa, I was able to interact with his work. One piece at i8, a series of four mirrors each frosted in different areas and positioned at just the right height, made me feel as if I was walking in fog as I moved from mirror to mirror. The experience was reminiscent of some of my long walks in Iceland as it transformed the gallery into something else. While in Harpa, as I walked around inside and up and down stairs, the play of light, shadow, and prismatic color allowed me to interact with the building and heightened my awareness of the space and of myself in it.

inside Harpa on my first morning in Reykjavík and in Iceland

I have also been curious about light and shadow for awhile now, too, collecting images and videos as I walk. I think seeing Elíasson's work in person and upon further reading about it, I find myself diving deeper into this inspiration. Finally, something I keep going over in my mind is the fact that I believe my purpose or intention as an artist is to communicate and connect with others.

So...just the other day I read a Tweet from Studio Ólafur Elíasson that grabbed my attention. It began with "Celebrate the connectivity of art..." and then mentioned a new project with The Guardian called, "Share Your Sun." As soon as I read the Tweet, I dropped what I was doing and visited the website. The first few words drew me in and when I investigated the project I immediately wanted to join in. Anyone can participate by contributing photos or videos of the sun. The photo I submitted is the image at the top which I was excited to find among many others on both Share Your Sun and The Guardian over the weekend. This project gave me an opportunity to connect, communicate, and share with a broader audience and in the work of a favorite artist as it allowed me to go a little further with my own interest in light, shadow, and photography.

screen shot from Share Your Sun

my photo is on the left in the middle

Thanks for reading.