Edge Effect
Crafted from sparks searing through steel, "Edge Effect" conjures the wilds of nature into shifting spectres of shadow and light.
Hand built by Sparks Designs
Plasma cutting: Heather Sparks
Welding and structural design: Islando Sparks
Tin Horse Lantern
Hand worked copper and tin using traditional cold forge techniques and acid etching.
Created through a series of workshops with residents from Vancouver BC’s Downtown Eastside in celebration of the Chinese New Year.
Heather Dawn Sparks and Jason Paulantis
In partnership with, Community Arts Council of Vancouver, the University of British Columbia and the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver.
Stone Moon
Stone cold moon suspended over gallery of glass ~ Crescent moon recessed lighting, polished to shine with natural stone marble dust. The reflectivity of the polished stone turns the moon black by night, catching streamers of street lights, and white by day with sunlight. Reflections bounce off panes of glass, creating unexpected illusions. Custom built by Islando Sparks SparksDesigns with design support from Heather Dawn Sparks and Nora Hughes for David Wight ‘s glass gallery
Fire & Ice
A custom made fire barrel cut with electrically charged currents, blasted by high powered air, frozen by ice, filled with fire!
Created for Camellia Nieh
Build and welding support Islando Sparks
Plasma Cutting and design Heather Sparks
Cast and Acid Dyed Concrete
Acid dyed cast concrete with copper and stone inlays. Muriatic etched copper backsplash
16’16” x 2’2”
Acid dyed concrete with copper and glass inlays
Fwomb - Kinetic Sculpture
Designed and built by Sparks Designs & Bemya Nymh
Videography: Camellia Nieh https://vimeo.com/user19162805 Edits: Bemya Nymh & Heather Sparks
Music: Bemya Nymh
https://bemyanymh.bandcamp.com/album/levity-live
Featuring: Build Support:
Sulai Lopez Vernon Coffey
Jenna Bradford Morgan Moonshine
Ginn Fizz Michael Kunitzky
Heather Dawn Sparks Morgan Lee Brown
Grace
Jackson Reed
Julie McPherson
Fiddlehead Tiny Homes
Two identically built Fiddlehead Spiral Cabins feature green living roofs, tree to lumber wood processing, Shou Sugi Ban fire torched preservation, cob interior, thermal envelopes, timber frame/venetian plaster walls, radiant heat floors and are constructed atop steel skids for mobile transport.
STAGE 1: Melting metal, flipping steel, and sending sparks up to the sky we've reached the first step in the build process: turning 100 year old salvaged marine steel into towable sled foundations. In addition, we erected a hefty covered shop space with the help of an excavator adapted into a crane!
STAGE 2: Shou Sugi Banning yellow cedar to build out the exterior. Fire torching, followed by wire brushing to reveal the contrasts in wood grain, serves as a natural method of wood preservation.
STAGE 3: Shimmying up whole cedar logs sourced from the land to build out the ceiling and main structural supports. 30 some logs later and we're shimmy shakin everywhere we go!
STAGE 4: Smooth trowels full of lime plaster coat wire mesh underlays. Cobb stacked into the upper portions of the wall serve to wick moisture from the air and increase ventilation. A DIY stove was built to warm our frosty mitts by!
Cedar Stage
Waves
35 recycled coconut oil barrels plasma cut to create variegated waves tinged with copper rust. Malleable in form, each wave undulates and stacks into different site specific sculptural formations. Their detailed silhouettes cast bold shadows.
