Heather Carson

Heather Carson’s geometric light works integrate phenomenological experience with the aesthetic of lighting hardware. Drawing on East Coast Minimalism and West Coast Light and Space movement, Carson’s unique approach has been called “simultaneously ephemeral and muscular,” by Los Angeles Times writer Christopher Knight. In recent works she cites color theorist Joseph Albers in her exploration of the color temperature of different “white” lights.

“These are the old-school tubes that we think of when we think of fluorescent light– the kind Flavin used and Irwin is still using, despite the fact that the fixtures are no longer being massed produced. They’re a specific, subtle choice referencing their use by other artists. The fixture is as important to me as the light– it is not merely the carrier. The were custom-made to my specifications so that both et presence and the absence of light would be equidistant,” says Carson. The verso of these delicately luminous panels reveal the metal-clamp industrialism of lighting rigs, invisible to the audience who still intuit their heft and strength operating behind the scenes. From the front, these elements and the installation’s architectural engagement are invisible to the audience.  Viewed from the side this aspect is prominent, providing a significant perspective on what motivates her both in terms of aesthetic experience and meaning. Carson’s intention is neither seamlessness bordering on illusion, nor phenomenological depiction of the natural world, but rather expression of the “muscular, physical nature of light itself.”

— Shana Nys Dambrot
Full essay, pdf

Carson began her work with light as an influential lighting designer from 1979-2011 on prominent productions including Richard Foreman’s avant-garde Ontological Theater, The Royal Opera of Denmark, The Geneva Opera, English National Opera, Opera Comique and The New York Shakespeare Festival.

Carson has been the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including the 1999 Rome Prize, the 1998 and 2004 New York Foundation for the Arts Artists Fellowship in Architecture/Environmental Structures Awards, the 2011 City of Los Angeles (COLA) Individual Artist Fellowship, and a 2006 Durfee Award. She attended Skowhegan in 1997. Carson was head of the lighting programs at Penn State and Cal Arts, and has taught at NYU, Smith College, Bard College, Sci-Arc, UCSD, UCLA and CSULB.