Distant Rays — Calming through Senses

Immersive light sculpture | 2022
Thermoformed acrylic, citrus dichroic film, Dedo light, turning mechanism, fishing line, brass eyelets and 10-minute looped soundscape recording of the artist playing Tibetan bowls and a rain stick.

What would it feel like to step inside a ray of sunlight?
Distant Rays encourages us to slow down and take time to observe beauty every day. It was inspired by nature and a memorable myth Jade was told as a child — her grandma Dee explained that the ethereal rays of light stretching from the sun to the ground are the connection between Heaven and Earth, a cosmic axis connecting us to something greater.

Later, Jade discovered her grandma was referring to “crepuscular rays”. This incredible phenomenon often forms at sunset when light travels through broken clouds. The light scatters as it passes through particles in the atmosphere, reflecting blue and green wavelengths while allowing red and yellow hues to pass through. Distant Rays is an imagining of what it would feel like to be inside a crepuscular ray.

Suspended above eye level, the sculpture’s undulating acrylic form is wrapped in citrus dichroic film and slowly rotates under a focused white light. This creates an ever-shifting pool of soft pink light on the floor, while blue and green reflections dance overhead. Viewers are drawn to wander beneath the glowing sculpture, immersing themselves in its radiant embrace.

Accompanied by a gentle soundscape composed of a rainstick and Tibetan bowls, Distant Rays uses colour, light, and sound to evoke a quiet sense of awe. The colour pink is known to soothe aggression and calm the nervous system. It transforms the space into a sensory sanctuary. Some viewers walk playfully through the light. Others pause and look at the pool of light reluctant to disturb its magic.

Rooted in neuroaesthetics, psychology, and colour theory, the work explores the affective power of pink and the subtle, embodied sensations that colour can awaken. It is both a memory and a meditation — a bridge between past and present, body and light.

How does colour, light, and sound shift your mood?