liz west's 'hymn to the big wheel' is a transforming display of natural light

british light artist liz west creates a ‘hymn to the big wheel’ for the dazzling natural light exhibition ‘summer lights’ at london’s canary wharf. the luminous installation stands as an immersive architectural pavilion which explores the illusion and physicality of color and natural light within the urban space. the occupiable artwork takes shape as one multi-colored octagon nested within an larger octagonal structure and encourage the viewer to reorient and align themselves with the changing color-ways. as the viewer moves within the ‘big wheel,’ they are immersed within a continually transforming scope of colors.

images by sean pollock photography

liz west constructs her playful installation ‘hymn to the big wheel’ from transparent colored sheets. the pavilion will stand at london’s summer lights exhibition which is on view free to the public across the canary wharf estate. the show presents a celebration of natural light, a theme that the artist has continually demonstrated across her body of work. the radial color spectrum helps to transform the area into an optical playground which explodes into life each day at sunrise. on view now, ‘hymn to the big wheel’ will show until august 21st, 2021.

liz west comments on her ‘hymn to the big wheel’ at the summer lights exhibition: ‘this saturate installation is an energising beacon of colour that radiates across the space it inhabits, creating an intriguing interplay of coloured shadows for people to discover. the viewer becomes performer within the work as they move around the inside and outside of the structure to explore the changing optics and colour-ways mixing within the installation. the chosen jewel-like colours create diverse mixes and blends when viewed from different angles from around the installation, as well as producing a sundial effect by casting multi-coloured shadows on the asphalt.’