Perception
Live Lighting Design
Handmade papercuts shot through with dichroic lighting are projected across the walls Layered paper, prisms, glass, mirror, sequins, lenses, water and found objects are used to create live analogue shadow sets.
Developing a series of kinetic paper cut spinners to create moving images in light. Stereoscopic lighting through coloured lenses creates the illusion of depth.
Children of the Setting Sun ~ Setting Sun Dance Festival ~ Lummi Nation
CHILDREN OF THE SETTING SUN PRODUCTIONS ~ Setting Sun Dance Festival
Produced and filmed by Children of the Setting Sun
🎶Music by the Lummi Blackhawk Singers Composed by Mark Nichols
Cut Paper Shadow Projections:
Phillip Solomon COAST SALISH DESIGNS & Heather Dawn Sparks, SPARKS DESIGNS
A Subatomic Pop Opera
Visual representations of a sound storm and looping layers, with dichroic bolts of analogue lighting shooting through fresnel lenses. A shadow promo shoot for Devon More’s "subatomic pop opera" in which "quarks, quirks and the substance of sound collide!”
Butterfly Shadows
Video and Stills: Developing a series of insect headdresses for shadow dancing. Experiments in the studio with performance artist Ryutai Washita
Portraits
Shadow photoshoot for paper cut artist and songstress extraordinaire Mattea Holtzinger. Check out her beautiful disintegrating paper video: https://vimeo.com/230586359
"One from the Heart"
A live weekly broadcast by CHILDREN OF THE SETTING SUN PRODUCTIONS
🎶Orchestral arrangement “Beginnings” by Mark Nichols
Hand Cut Paper Stop-Motion Animation by:
Lhaqtemish (Lummi Nation) / Nooksack artist Jason LaClair & Heather Dawn Sparks
Shadow Sail Theatre at the Oregon Eclipse Festival!
Sparks Designs set up an immersive kinetic shadow environment within the pines of Big Summit Prairie, Ochoco National Forest. Put on by 13 collaborating international events, the week long Oregon Eclipse Festival had approximately 40,000 attendees gather to witness the eclipse!
Prayers Illuminated
I've been working with talented aerialist Noa Schnitzer as of late to create and direct a series of shadow sequences for her new one woman show. Her show reflects on prayer, engaging the conversations that straddle the worlds of habit and change. http://noaschnitzer.com/
*Ink etched poetry in hebrew, paper-cut set and puppet pieces by Heather Dawn Sparks*
Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival
Shadow panels as part of the Moon Festivals Finale show!
Photo by Zhaozhong Zheng
Shadow Wolf
A shadow short created for the sizzlingly sexy electro swing that is High Step Society Eugene OR.
You can find a snap of High Step alongside other tappin good beats at: https://soundcloud.com/high-step-society
*Shadow projection stop motion animation film short by Heather Dawn Sparks and Ethan Rainwater*
Shadow Sail Theatre Hosts Participatory Shadow Art at the Lightcatcher Museum
*Plasma cut aluminum tree shadow screens and visual light projections by Sparks Designs. Shadow Dancers: Julia Light, Charlie Rae, Wendy Wynazz, Sox, Eric Parthum, Michael Jepperson, & Heather Sparks. Live Music by Islando Sparks, Karl Kummerle & Bemyanymh*
Photography by Eric Parthum
Teleidoscopic Studies
Sky with rainwater, blue plastic, glass crystals on artist's desk, textiles, moss, Autumn Joy Stonecrop in flower, Chamomile, textiles.
A teleidoscope uses mirrors, a lens, and an open view to form fractured patterns from objects outside the instrument. Unlike kaleidoscopes, they have no object-case, rather the object is the world surround.
*Photo Studies by Heather Dawn Sparks*
Day Lit Shadow Dancing ~ Shadow Sail Theatre ~
*Plasma cut aluminum tree screens by SparksDesigns. Photography Eric Parthum. Shadow Dancers Drea Lusion and Heather Dawn Sparks*
Let the light experiments begin!
*Plasma cut aluminum tree screens by SparksDesigns. Photography Eric Parthum. Shadow Dancer Dream Catcher Drea Lusion*
Shadow Sail Theatre Wins Burning Man Global Arts Grant!
Big News! Shadow Sail Theatre became one of eighteen internationally selected works of interactive art to win the Burning Man Global Arts Grant. This grant is dedicated to projects outside of the annual Burning Man event that bring interactive, community building and cutting edge art to the streets. Winners of the grant spanned locations throughout the U.S. as well as Czech Republic, France, England, and the Philippines.
*Plasma cut aluminum tree screens by SparksDesigns. Shadow Dancers Drea Lusion and Heather Dawn Sparks*
Shadow Theatre wins grant funding from KAPOW!
Woweeee! It begins! After long days and late nights of dreaming, scheming, writing... and prancing across the Mount Baker Theatre on a glorious shadow unicorn, Kapow's jury selected Shadow Sail Theatre as one of the three winning projects to receive grant funding. Thank you Kapow!