Liz West Exhibition in Cardiff

Arcadecardiff is delighted to present the first exhibition in Wales by Liz West. Comprising new light work made site-specifically, the exhibition Zenith Blue + Primary Red features a physical demonstration of colour mixing and optics which fills the space with radiant colour and luminous light for visitors to explore.

Liz West uses multiple fluorescent sticklights to create intense colour blocks flooding the entire space with saturate light. By mixing primary red and zenith blue coloured light together, West demonstrates colour mixing in practice as the space is flooded with mauve and magenta. When the human eye focuses for a duration on either colour block, the complementary colour will be left on our retina as an afterimage when we turn away or close our eyes.

West creates vivid environments that mix luminous colour and radiant light. Reacting to the architectural space of Arcadecardiff, West has created a site-specific installation work which has transformed the room into an immersive and sensory experience. West aims to provoke a heightened sensory awareness in the viewer through her works. She is interested in exploring how sensory phenomena can invoke psychological and physical responses that tap into our own deeply entrenched relationships to colour.   

"Light is a wonderfully diverse material,” West explains. “I enjoy working with it as has the power to completely transform space and become a

--> physical and tangible entity for people to explore, feel and interact with” she says. “Saturate colour has the curious ability to conjure long forgotten memories and experiences. The meaning of each colour differs for each individual, making the exhibition a personal and sensory experience”. West added, “My interest in creating intense environments using artificial lights comes from my own need to be surrounded by light to trigger feelings of well-being as I have Seasonal Affective Disorder.” Liz West was the recipient of the Royal British Society of Sculptors Bursary Award in 2015 and is most widely known for her chromatic light installations which often take the form of immersive environments using the notions of colour theory and the science of light together to create optical and sensory experiences. 
  

 
Private Viewing: 6-8pm Wednesday 16 December 2015
Artist Talk: 12pm Thursday 17 December
Opening times: 12:30pm – 5:30pm. Wednesday to Saturday
 

ARCADECARDIFF
Unit 3b
Queens Arcade
Queen Street
Cardiff
CF10 2BY

www.liz-west.com

www.arcadecardiff.co.uk

Liz West talks about her practice for new LEE Filters mini-documentary

An Additive Mix is Liz West's most ambitious installation, incorporating a purpose build 10m x 5m room with infinity mirrors and 250 6ft fluorescent lamps at the National Media Museum, Bradford. The new work has been developed over the past seven months to form part of the exhibition Light Fantastic: Adventures in the Science of Light which celebrates the UNESCO International Year of Light.

The new work, West’s largest commission to date, turns this occurrence of natural science on its head; reassembling the diffracted colours of the rainbow and projecting them to ‘infinity’ as visitors explore the space.

Within the installation 191 individual colours are combined with a surrounding series of mirrors, reflecting a dynamic and intense illumination throughout the space. An Additive Mix draws from the principle that white light comprises different colours of the spectrum, called additive colours, and immerses visitors in a physical actualization of the phenomenon. Those entering the exhibition space become completely saturated in varied hues that collectively create white light in a seemingly endless expanse.

Liz used hundreds of LEE Filters in the making of this new work, therefore LEE Filters decided to make a mini-documentary about Liz's practice and most recent works, including the development of An Additive Mix.