Deptford Illuminations | Illumina

About

After years spent admiring the spectacle of light festivals in his small local adopted town in the heel of the Italian boot, illumina decided to learn how they were made so he could make some for his home. “A friend gave me a piece, so I brought it back to London and put it on my wall. It just seemed to fit so well. The small ‘cut out’ section and the light it provided took on a new life once seen its own.  I particularly liked the classic gothic shapes and religious icons and wanted to see how they would look in a more modern, urban environment. I could see them being versatile enough so they could be used for the home or garden, but also scaleable for use at a venue or a an event. We’ve even taken one camping.” 

Not just satisfied with sticking to tradition illumina went on to create a series of figurative works using the same fittings, adapted to the more urban streets of south east London, his native landscape.  The Victim series are shrines that highlight some of the tragic signs of our times. Each is a dedicated memorial to a person who has perished on the streets of modern Britain – largely as a result of diminishing resources and safe spaces available to the poor and vulnerable. They deal with the issues of knife crime and homelessness. One particular local case shocked him into creating the Victim series. "I discovered that a homeless man in his forties had died in the old red phone box at the end of my road - which had been converted into a children's library often used by my two children. We were horrified when we saw the police tape over the phone box. Months later it was still there - this man had been forgotten.” These lights are a memorial to him, and to other street victims, both forgotten and remembered. To see more images from the series visit:  www.illumina.space/shrine

illumina is an art director, graphic designer and illustrator. After studying an MA at the RCA and working in the film and design world  in London  he  moved to  Puglia and fell in love with its relatively unknown tradition of religious festival lighting. Over the course of the 5  years he found out who made them and how they were made.   Now he also makes them, adapted for internal and external urban spaces. illumina also has partners in Puglia who sell both old and new pieces, large and small, and create large bespoke lighting for events or restored original one-off  sections for the home or garden.   

www.illumina.space | info@illumina.space | IG: @illuminalights

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