Niara's space

Light sculpture is a way of “sculpting light” using the flowing forms of wood reed armature and a papier mache process using white tissue paper.  Once the glue-water medium is applied to the tissue paper, carefully layering it at least 3 times over the gracefully designed wood reed frame, the tissue paper becomes stiff and surprisingly durable.  A candelabra light mounted inside the piece provides the light, while the tissue papier mache over the flowing form of the wood frame sculpts the light from the bulb.  These pieces are art forms that provide beautiful ambient light to a livingroom or bedroom and would especially enhance healing spaces, such as counselors’ or therapists’ offices, or bodyworkers’ rooms for massage, reiki, or other alternative healing arts.  Each one is one-of-a-kind and cannot be exactly duplicated.  Each is a co-creative endeavor between myself and the Great Creator, or God, and each goes together in its own unique way.  I have my own inspirations and may guide the design of the materials, but something of the Great Spirit also finds its way of expression in each piece.

I learned the technique from light sculpture artist, William Leslie and he learned it from his teacher, Stephen White.  You can view and learn more about William’s work at http://www.papersunlightsculpture.com/ and at http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_artists/article/0,,HGTV_3228_2810644,00.html .  One of his free-standing pieces was actually used on a set for a Star Trek film!  I was thinking of working in papier mache a few years ago, and found his work during a Google search.  I found his work stunning, and wrote him and told him so.  One thing led to another and I ended up sponsoring him, with my friend Alison Goss, a fiber artist, to come to Durango, CO and do a workshop teaching this technique.

Google the term “light sculpture” or “lightsculpture”, and you will come up with many different and beautiful forms of art that well deserve the name, light sculpture, but the type of work I learned from William Leslie stands on its own as a beautiful art form, worthy of the term, light sculpture.

I’ve loved the idea of functional art for a long time, blending both beauty and practical use.  Light sculpture is one of the most gracefully beautiful ways to combine art and functionality (ambient lighting) I’ve found.  I’m very happy to be a creator of these types of pieces.  I plan on taking this art form into new areas, using color, and using other armature such as carefully sculpted wire as the frame to be illuminated by the internal light.  I will be making a variety of designs, including free-standing, table-top and hanging as well as wall sconce-types.  As I move into new areas with this art form, I will be doing smaller experimental pieces that I can in turn offer at special prices for those wanting to experience what a light sculpture is without the investment in a larger, more complex piece.

Caring for light sculptures is easy enough.  If you notice it becoming dusty, just brush away any dust with a very soft duster, such as a feather duster (make sure it is clean before you start), or use a can of air for blowing dust off.  They don’t need this often, they maintain a beautiful appearance for months at a time.  Since water is part of their creation process, they should not get wet, similarly to a watercolor painting.  They can withstand a drop or two of water now and then.

One of the complaints about light sculptures has been the power cords that necessarily have to hang from them to connect them to an electrical outlet.  I have been conducting ongoing research to find a light source to mount in these art pieces that does not require a cord, but I have not found one yet.  Batteries would have to be replaced too often in such a light source to be practical, and beyond that, battery-operated lighting that is bright enough to illuminate the larger light sculptures adequately is not yet available to my knowledge.  Since I still have to work within the confines of current electrical technology, I do my best to mount the lights and their cords into the pieces in such a way that the cord flows with the design and hangs in such a way as to not detract from the artistic lines of the light sculpture.  Another way to avoid the cord problem is if you have a light set in a wall of your home that the light sculpture could be hung over.  Just be sure that you hang the light sculpture over that light so that the light illuminates the light sculpture at the same point as the mounted light inside it would to create the best artistic effect.  The bulb should be at least 1.5 inches from the inner surface of the lightsculpture.

This brings me to another point about lighting these art forms… the kind of light bulb to use.  For best results, use candelabra bulbs.  The design of light sculptures and the lighting mounts they use are for small-socket candelabra bulbs.  They are smaller and will not produce excessive heat within the light sculptures.  If you can, go even one step further and get a compact fluorescent candelabra bulb, which gives off even less heat.  If you are mounting your light sculpture over a light source already set in a wall to avoid using the cord, many compact fluorescent candelabra bulbs (such as ones purchased at Home Depot) come with an adapter to scale down a standard socket size to the smaller candelabra sized socket, or some compact fluorescent candelabra bulbs I’ve seen at Wal-Mart come sized for standard sockets already. 

LEDs (light-emitting diodes) show some promise in regard to light sculpture light sources, but the bulbs are still quite expensive and getting one with true white light rather than a slightly purplish-white glow is still an issue.  A big plus is their lack of heat.  But I’m keeping my eye on them and will be creating some smaller experimental pieces with strings of battery-operated or electrical outlet powered LEDs to see what I can do with these.  I’ll be putting some of these successful light sculpture “experiments” for sale in my Etsy shop online and other online venues I develop in the future.

My work has been in four local Durango, CO area shows, including the Durango Arts Center.  My light sculptures received much attention and appreciation locally and now I want to offer them to a broader range of people over the web.

As so many others in the world today, it’s not enough to just earn a buck.  I want the work I do to be satisfying and purposeful.  I want to know that I’m adding beauty to the world, and helping to create a sense of flow and peace in the living and working spaces of my customers, which in turn will help them recharge, build and sustain their life energy and create vibrance and vitality.  While my light sculptures alone cannot do this, their grace and beauty does contribute to the environmental ambiance my customers seek to create in their homes or offices.

I am offering my light sculptures for sale online at my Etsy shop at http://www.LifeDance.etsy.com .  Look for them at other places online as well as I expand my online venues!  If you would like to be on my email list to be notified as new creations are offered, please send me a message with your email to be added to my list.

From those who have seen my work in person:

“I first experienced Niara's amazing work online and it took my breath away. Seeing the artwork in person is a whole other experience.  We have the Autumn Moon in our office and are completely thrilled at the energy and peace that it brings to our space.  The space where we hung it was dark and energetically horrid, but it was calling for something special and that was the Autumn Moon.  It has transformed the space and is now not just an accent to our space but an alluring focal point for all that enter here.  The beauty and grace of Niara's work infuses an inner sense of calm that words can barely describe.  The only way to improve on it would be to collect more of these precious works of art and light.”  

~ Bethany Niccum at Thrive Chiropractic

“Niara's lightsculptures add a wonderful ambiance to any room.  The warm glow created by this luminescent art brings a wonderful Goddess energy into the space.  Each lamp is like a beautiful dance.”

~ Carla, Durango, CO

“Niara Isley is one of the most incredible artists on the planet.  Her "Light Sculptures" create a tranquil ambiance and beauty.  They add so much to any room in your home.  Her skill in the design makes them truly a unique décor item.” 

~ Victoria Liljenquist, Massage Therapist

I love the outdoors, particularly the southwest where I live, deserts, high mesas, mountains.  I live in beauty.  I also love the movies.  Some of the movies I've watched in the last few years, like Batman films and The Matrix, show worlds devoid of the natural beauty of nature, particularly The Matrix trilogy of films.  Not a single blade of green grass.  I have to appreciate that in the story, those humans were hanging onto life and doing their best, but something in me wanted to curl up in grief and pain at the idea of a world without a shred of blue sky, a world without a single blade of green grass, a world without the comforting smell of earth warmed by the sun, mixed with the scent of junipers and pines.

So, I create beauty.  While I also believe in art as a political statement, as a process, as a healing journey and the images that could be created that might stir people up and disturb them in some, hopefully productive, way, I believe in creating beauty.  Living in the natural beauty of the southwest, my spirit is filled to overflowing with beauty.  Like when I take too large a swallow of water and try to get it down, it fills to the point of almost hurting, but in the best way... like if I wanted to I could dissolve and become one with all that beauty.

So many artists have painted these landscapes, imprinting them with their own unique love of the land.  Photographers have captured the colors, the shapes, the textures.  I have turned my attention inwards, to my own inner landscapes and what the consciousness of beauty can express... hence the name of my Space here, Innervistas.  Like the aboriginal people of Australia, animals, trees and other things from nature may appear in my work, in my vintage works and in works to come, but they will carry the energy imprints of what I sense around them.  Like the Force in Star Wars, this energy field created by all living things surrounds us, inter-penetrates us and holds the Universe together.  We are connected by the very "space" that seems to separate us.  We now know it as the quantum field.

So as I contemplate creating, I feel what I'm feeling... I sense what colors the feelings want to express, then see if there are any textures, symbols or forms that take the expression to the level where I am showing what wants to come forth.

Beauty calls forth higher consciousness in humanity.  Otherwise, why should we care about saving the environment beyond trying to insure our own survival?  Why save the polar bears, the whales?  There is something beautiful, inspiring and soul-stirring about the natural world and all the creatures that live in it, particularly those that live wild.  Each has lessons to teach us.

The environmental crisis facing humanity and all species now, when I truly let it 'in', takes my breath away in fear and grief.  Living on is important yes, but the quality of life has to have some meaning as well.  Survival is not enough.  Thriving, and the self-actualization or expansion of consciousness that can come to each of us when we thrive is the reaching of the Conscious Living Universe through each individual towards greater and greater freedom of expression.

As I continue through life, I'll continue to create beauty as best I can, and do all I can to preserve the beauty of the natural world that is the foundation for my life, my spirit, and my inspiration.  Because quality of life and living is vital to the me that exists and reaches out to know the me that is pure quantum energy and is One with All.