Vicki DaSilva
Vicki DaSilva makes single frame time exposure light painting photographs shot at night, live and on location. These images are made possible through processes of recording that are unique to photography. The execution time varies in duration from minutes to hours per photograph. Each work is a response to the here-and-now. Using open, empty spaces such as an abandoned silk factory as her framework, DaSilva expands on a largely overlooked tradition that began in 1949 when Picasso collaborated with LIFE photographer, Gjon Mili, to create a series of light drawing photographs.
DaSilva takes the medium of light painting to a larger, monumental scale by working within architectural structures to render both abstraction and text-based imagery. Corridinho portrays tall blue swivels that fill the space of an empty silk factory whereas Jasmine/Never Sorry (for Ai Weiwei) features repetitive text in reference to Ai Weiwei’s detainment in China. Anchored firmly in the moment, DaSilva’s art contributes to the expanding global reach that light graffiti now has in art communities around the world.
By integrating the documentation of performance with photography, DaSilva’s most recent selection of installation based, site-specific light paintings appeared in a solo show titled REVERB at Able Fine Art in New York City. As the first artist to use text within light painting since the early 1980s, Vicki DaSilva makes her work local, vibrant and contemporary. In 2009 the artist received authorization by the General Services Administration for site-specific work in New York City’s Federal Plaza. In 2011 Her work is featured in Reebok’s werclassic.com multimedia platform for innovations in art, dance, music and style that launched in March 2011. The Bring to Light 2011 festival in Greenpoint, Brooklyn will also feature her light paintings on October 1, 2011. DaSilva is currently at work on a commissioned piece for the Iranian Green Party’s whereismyvoteny.org.
Contact DaSilva at her website.
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