The Arts Council funds Wac Arts Residency and exhibition ‘Light-Life Ignite’
A celebration of light and life, here and now. Opening Exhibition January 15th 2015, 6.30-8.30
Bringing a light-filled sensory experience to a space accessed by many differing communities including young people with varying degrees of disabilities.
Wac Arts Press Release 17th December 2014 Light-Life Ignite
Step inside the Town Hall for an immersive, light and colour-filled, sensory inspiration.
• The Arts Council funds Lorna Carmen McNeill’s Wac Arts Residency and exhibition
‘Light-Life Ignite’ - a celebration of light and life, here and now.
• Bringing a light-filled sensory experience to a space accessed by many differing communities including young people with varying degrees of disabilities.
• Paying tribute to the United Nations International Year of Light - how light-based technologies promote sustainable development and provide solutions to global challenges in energy, education, agriculture and health.
Wac Arts Artist in Residence (AIR) programme is extremely excited to announce our next Wac Arts
AIR collaboration - Lorna Carmen McNeill. Lorna’s exhibition ‘Light-Life Ignite’ displays an innovative
fusion of fine art and sculpture with where possible sustainable light and digital technologies,
creating a mesmerising body of work.
*Rivers of luminous coloured light*
Lorna Carmen McNeill, at MovingLightArt.com, creates dazzling light sculptures and projections by
merging art with technology, seeking to illuminate the invisible, inter-dimensional, inter-connected
communication that permeates all things. Lorna creates the Installations in collaboration with
creative lighting expert Geoff Blindt, with the aim to uplift mood and inspire creativity.
The stimulating sensory installation combined with a series of workshops will give the young people
from Wac Arts (especially those with a disability many of whom rely heavily on sensory stimulation
to enhance their lives) a chance to realise their creativity, develop new skills and most of all have a
positive and enjoyable experience in an inspired environment.
During the residency, Lorna will facilitate a series of collaborative workshops which use Interactive
technology with sensory elements of the artwork combined with painting and sculpture to engage
heart, hand and mind. She will work alongside students to create a new body of work. There will be
a closing night exhibition to show the development of the installation from something based on
Lorna's own techniques to those discovered and informed by the young people involved in the
workshops. The young people will also exhibit some of the artwork they produce. An artist talk and
a group discussion will be held to look at the complete process, enabling Lorna and the young artists
to share their experiences and outcomes.
The opening night for the public exhibition will be on Thursday from 15th January 6.30 pm-8.30 pm
after which the exhibition can be viewed every Thursday at the same times. Prints of the light
artwork will be on display and available to purchase.
About the Artist:
*Fusing fine art with light and digital technologies*
Lorna Carmen McNeill studied fine art at Camberwell College of Art, and Goldsmiths College of Art
but then pursued a vocational scientific training in Nutrition and Dietetics. For over two decades, she
worked as a nutritionist in clinical research on lifestyle and behaviour change in a psychology unit at
University College London and then as a clinician within the NHS before graduating from the Art
Academy with a first in fine art.
“I am intrigued by the properties of light, colour, energy and texture within the natural
world. Consider the flow of water and the movements of the sun and the moon as they transform
the sky from day to night, and how this reflects the inner journey of being human”
Lorna’s works are collected internationally and are currently on display at the Art Academy, London,
Trinity United Reformed Church, St. Albans, Hospice of St Francis, Berkhamsted and were recently
showcased at the International conference, Futurefest and as a major public installation in
collaboration with Geoff Blindt at the Barbican and at Womad in summer 2014
In addition to ongoing development of new bodies of work, Lorna is a tutor at The Art Academy,
London, runs art workshops for team building in companies and charities, workshops on freeing up
creativity and offers private art tutoring.
Visit www.lornacarmenmcneill.com, for more information on the artwork presented by Lorna Carmen McNeill.
About Wac Arts: Empowering Young People to Change Their World
Wac Arts provides a range of dynamic and cutting edge entry level and professional training in the
arts for young people aged 5-26. Since 1978, Wac Arts has been home to thousands of talented
young people, harnessing their extraordinary potential every year, equipping them to make positive
choices for themselves and a positive contribution to society. Our work has opened countless doors
for young people, creating life changing opportunities otherwise inaccessible to them.
Visit www.wacarts.co.uk for further information.
Wac Arts Press Release 17th December 2014