Rethinking light and shadow in contemporary artwork


Rethinking light and shadow in contemporary artwork




Alvin Xiong




Master of Fine Arts 


Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, 2015 







Light has been an important element in the world since ancient civilizations.

The sanctity of light and sun is one of the most ancient and persistent themes within sacred art and architecture – a concept associated with the cultural structures and rituals of Stonehenge, the Egyptian pyramids, as well as both Mayan and Aztec civilizations. People in ancient times worshipped the sun a lot, reflecting their ancient thoughts that the sun had immortal power over human mortality. They needed to find a way to revere the power that they believed came from their gods. Light has a particular materiality, in connecting human life to the touch of an unknown field. 

Within mankind’s ancient cultures, the sun had been given an extraordinary position. It is possible that social leaders in that period used their knowledge of the seasons to maintain their own power and status over those people of lower classes. Such political and religious agendas may have given Man the understanding of his appropriate place in relation to the universe and the creator or God. People were convinced that their commitment to worshiping the sun was the proper way to build a direct relationship between both them and the creator.

In the Christian tradition, light is also indispensable. In Genesis 1: 3 it reads“And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.’’[1] Light was an integral component to creation in the Christian world. This same concept of light illuminating is prominent in religious architecture. Stained glass windows are an important device in churches and cathedrals. The function of stained glass is not only showing people the beauty of light but also reminds the believer that the power of light comes from their God, so their lives cannot be without God or light.


The importance of light is not only apparent in ancient art, but also appears in minimalism and post minimalism earth art. Sunlight, space and human beings have been involved together in combination for millennium. Also, if we look at history, Mankind's interest in working with visual phenomena of sunlight and space has continued since early civilization. During past decades up until now, contemporary artists have used and are using light to create their artworks. This provides the viewer with an immersive experience of the power of light. James Turrell’s monumental The Roden Crater Project[2] and Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels[3] are both good examples of this. Contemporary artists are using artwork to create a unique worship-space for the viewer to understand the power of light.


For Turrell’s The Roden Crater Project, the power of light is manifested by the architecture and sun, bringing the light of the heavens down to Earth, linking viewers with the celestial movements of planets, stars and distant galaxies. Both light and space have been perfectly used in this monumental art project. I think Turrell was influenced by the design of the architecture to enhance his visual perception in this project. I also believe that Turrell explored and understood the Ancient’s treasure. As Turrell says “I admire Borobudur, Angkor Wat, Pagan, Machu Picchu, the Mayan pyramids, the Egyptian pyramids, Herodium, Old Sarum, Newgrange and the Maes Howe. These places and structures have certainly influenced my thinking. These thoughts will find concurrence in Roden Crater.”[4]

New York critic Calvin Tompkins writes about Turrell’s work “His work is not about light, or a record of light; it is light - the physical presence of light made manifest in sensory form.”[5] The function of the work is using light and space to engage the viewer within the limits and wonder of human perception.


Light is not only important to me but also important to human beings. Without light, we would be in darkness. 


Using light in an expanded field


“Surprising things have come to be called sculpture” - Rosalind Krauss[6]

American art critic and art theorist, Rosalind Krauss discusses the issue of the transformation of modernist medium specificity into postmodernist medium multiplicity in contemporary art in her famous essay: Sculpture in the Expanded Field. Krauss’ alternative narrative discusses Modernism as the rupture between sculpture and its site. In addition she talks about the opposition between architecture and landscape or indeed ‘non-architecture’ and ‘non-landscape’. Yet, when these issues had been explored in greater depth, postmodern sculptors like Carl Andre, Robert Smithson, Sol LeWitt and Bruce Nauman mapped an ‘expanded field’ of sculpture, which superseded oppositions such as Krauss.[7] One such example is Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty[8], a work forms a 460 metre long and 4.6 metre wide counterclockwise coil jutting from the shore of the Great Salt Lake. Depending upon the lake water level, the work is sometimes visible and sometimes submerged.[9] This artwork breaks or blurs the boundary between sculpture, architecture and landscape. 

Krauss’ essay provides a precise diagram about the structural parameters of sculpture, architecture and landscape art, and what sculpture had become in the second half of the twentieth century. In her essay, she questions the three-dimensional art form of ‘sculpture’ and tries to clarify what these art practices were, what they were not and what they could become if logically combined.

She explains that looking back through art history, definitions of both art and sculpture have become more elastic. Sculpture has jumped out of the traditional box and has moved into new areas.[10] Krauss gives us two examples about the gradual transition: Auguste Rodin’s statutes: The Gates of Hell[11] and Monument to Balzac[12]. These two works show the beginning period of the sculptor as expressing the artist’s personality in the work. This special change is illustrated more clearly by the discarding of the pedestal upon which the sculpture has traditionally sat.

Next, Krauss argues, sculpture moved more completely away from the monument to an art form. And so sculpture lost its ‘site’ or ‘place’. Monuments became abstract. Sculpture became ‘nomadic’.[13] This change happened during the modernist period between 1880 - 1945.

After the 1950s, sculpture became something that could be defined by what it was, rather than what it wasn’t.

It was during the postmodernist era that for the first time, sculpture situated itself between ‘non-landscape’ and ‘non-architecture’. This is when the notion of ‘combination of exclusions’ comes into play. The sculpture needed the landscape to define what the sculpture itself was; it used the landscape to be. That is why Krauss gives us the example of Robert Morris’ Green Gallery Installation from 1964.[14]

Some sculptures explore the possibility of landscape and not landscape (the sites defines the works) and some are between the place of architecture and not architecture (sculpture as an ‘intervention in the real space of architecture’)[15]

So, what is sculpture in the twentieth century? As Krauss mentioned: it could be anything. Sculpture could encompass a much broader range of medium such as ‘photography, books, and lines on walls, mirrors, or sculpture itself’.[16] The definition of sculpture has become more ambiguous, and in my opinion, no matter what the art form is, the situation of definition is the same.

The importance of Rosalind Krauss’ essay not only gives us the artist’s permission to be free with our creativity during the creation process, but also to blur the boundaries and limitations between different art forms and be ambiguous with the notion or definition of an object in the art world.[17]

Based on Krauss’ theory, I think the idea of using light in an artwork can be extended.  

Light as both a medium and subject within painting has been a relevant topic developing for centuries.

From the dark paintings of Michelangelo Caravaggio to the interior environments and garments of Johan Vermeer, light is an important element in their paintings. Light increases the dramatic and emotional atmosphere in their works. The Impressionist painters Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and Vincent Van Gogh also tried to depict light and catch the various changes of light on the object. This is especially apparent with Monet’s Rouen Cathedral series and Haystacks series. He was impressed with the way light imparts itself on a subject creating a distinctly different character at different times of the day, the weather, the season and the year. In Monet’s paintings, the different effects of light on a subject became more important than the painted subject itself. In my opinion, he is painting the changing of light rather than painting a subject under different conditions. He tried to illustrate the importance of light and change the viewer’s perception about what light can be as a subject in a given time and place in a painting. 

Gjon Mili as a photographer and lighting innovator caused Pablo Picasso to create the famous light-drawing photography "Picasso draws a Centaur". The invention of using light and camera develops the idea ‘photography to capture the image on sheets of paper’ to become ‘painting with light by using photography’. It also opened a new direction for the potential of integrating drawing and light. 

In fact no matter whether it is painting, photography or other traditional art forms, the artwork is illuminated by light. Without light, the darkness does not let the viewer see the incredible detail and the fine brush-strokes in the work. On the other hand, in two-dimensional work, artists only recreate or use the effect of light, they are not using light itself. Some use light to enhance the painted figure’s emotion, others use light to create three-dimensionality effect of the object. Some artists use light to achieve a certain brightness required for painting their works. In my opinion, that means artist’s only use light as a reproduction tool in two-dimensional artworks; they are not using light itself as an important part of the work.

For sculpture and other three-dimensional works, light is unavoidable such as when light enhances the beautiful body curve of a Roman marble sculpture or reflects a particular area of designed architecture. Without light, the wonder of artwork would fade to become glooms.

Many contemporary artists working with light use manufactured light-sources. They contextualise light by considering how it affects the viewer and what the relationship is between light, space and that viewer. I see that using light as the medium to create an artwork has not been developed enough.


As one of the pioneers of Minimalism, Dan Flavin is best known for works that are entirely constructed with fluorescent light tubes. He might be considered as the first artist who physically employed electronic lighting into art. Dan Flavin gave continuity to his practice by utilizing the light-emitting object itself. As Xu Tan said “A craft that not only depicted the subject as the medium but that playfully explored color theory and the designing of space.”[18]


His works also established a new tradition of perceiving art and a new way of adapting specific works to site specificity. He did this through various forms of installation and what was later known as environmental art.[19] From Dan Flavin, light itself started becoming a medium in artwork, not just existing as the reproduced effect. It means that the power of light will be applied on the artwork.


Dan Flavin’s work is discussed in the book Icons, “the light of the tubes extends the work’s scope of effect into the surrounding room. Not only does the viewer stand opposite the work of art, he can, so to speak, enter it and thus become a part of it.”[20]


Flavin developed the extensible character of this special material: light. He may not fully realize that light is not only applying colour to affect the space or object but is also creating more shadows within the space. When I see Flavin’s work, I am not only seeing how the light affects the surrounding room, but also the relationship between the light from the work and the shadow of the viewer. Light is not only affecting the space but also creating shadow in the space. Furthermore the viewer becomes an object in the space, creating a shadow that always stays with them until they leave the space. It is the viewer’s absence that returns to the space, where the shadow formerly occupied, to its previous state of being lit. Shadows will be gone and light will dominate the whole space by itself again.


I think there is the potential in pushing the boundary of using the relationship between light and shadow and their relationship within a minimalist sculptural light work. Perhaps, the artist can integrate two different mediums, drawing and manufacturing light into a two-dimensional work. A new contemporary light-work form can then be created by mixing minimal light work together with traditional painting or painting techniques.


A new mixed art form is not just about using light to create some effect, but also using the special relationship between light and shadow. This may create new opportunities for the viewer, having a different perspective when seeing light works.


Francis Bacon said “In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.”[21] This implies that darkness enhances the power of light, and the light makes the darkness even deeper. Developing the relationship between light and space is important. But it appears many artists do not notice that light and shadow are commensal - in the sense that there will be both light and shadow in the same light-dominated space when an object moves into it. An object enters a light-dominated field and introduces that there will be both light and shadow in the same space, where shadow is created by an object entering a space dominated by light.


To me, shadow has two important roles. Firstly, shadow proves there is light in the space, because nothing can create a shadow except for the existence of light. Secondly, shadow proves that an object is impeding light - the object blocks light to create darkness, shadow. Additionally, the clarity or depth of shadow depends on the power of light.




     The inside and the outside of an artwork using light



What is the inside and what is the outside?


I am concerned with developing the relationship between the viewer and the work, especially in an artwork using light. So, what is the inside of the work and what is the outside of the work? This is a very interesting question to me.


Take for example a light work constructed with fluorescent tubes that illuminates the whole space in yellow. When the viewer walks into the space and faces the fluorescent tubes, are they outside of the artwork? In my opinion, they are facing the physical material: manufactured fluorescent tubes, but the core untouchable material: light, is extending itself to the surrounding the room. Are they then inside the work? I believe so. 


For a light work, the material has a special character: light is uncontrollably extensible. The viewer’s entire body is inside the work when they are watching a light work in the space. The physical light installation as an object is like the heart of the work. It is as if the viewer has entered a human body and comes face to face with the beating heart. On the other hand, the viewer has acquired the power to ‘kill’ the work from the inside. Because they just need to turn off the light, then there will be no power for the light tubes to shine. The attractive power of light will be taken from the fluorescent tubes, the tubes become only a plastic object and we will then call this object a ‘fluorescent tube’. Without light, the physical material loses its special character. It is as if we can go inside a body, we can cut the heart out and the body will be dead. Without life, we will be just a soft body.


For other traditional art forms like sculpture, painting or photography, the viewer cannot physically go inside the work. For instance, the viewer cannot go inside of a marble sculpture as we cannot go into the stone. Also, the viewer cannot go inside an oil painting as we cannot go into paint. So, the viewer is always outside of the work. For those kinds of works, the viewer only can go inside of their personal experience that is aroused by the work. For the traditional art forms, what we can see is the skin of the work. We can destroy these works from outside, but we cannot kill them from inside like light-work can. Within traditional art forms, the artist’s creative process is like doing plastic surgery with the material to make it look nice. But for light works, the artist is not only doing the make up for the material, but is also giving the work the power to bring the work to life. Light is the life of a light work. Without light, the object is not an artwork.



A good example of this is Anthony McCall, a British-born American artist. His work is about using his ‘solid-light’ installations to project a volumetric form slowly in a three-dimensional space. The viewer can not only walk in the space to feel the power and beauty of light, but also can stand in front of the strong projecting light to create their special shadow in the space.


McCall said about his works “No longer is one viewing position as good as any other … every viewing position presents a different aspect. The viewer therefore has a participatory role in apprehending the event: he or she can, indeed needs, to move around relative to the slowly emerging light form.”[22]


McCall talks about the relationship between the viewer and the work. The light will influence the viewer and the viewer will affect the work.


When the viewer walks in the perfectly designed space by Anthony McCall, his light projector is projecting light in the space. The viewer is inside of the work. The changed projector itself is not an artwork, it is just a material for creating the light effect. The light from the projector is the artwork. The viewer is not only immersing themselves in light but also modifying the work. The viewer’s body will stop the light from the beginning to the end, and the body will cast a special black object: a shadow in the space. Light cannot go through the viewer’s body. Following the viewer’s movements, the artwork is keeping itself in the space until the viewer or the object leaves the space. Then light will dominate the space again.


For the light work, if the viewer wants to see the real face of the work, he cannot go into the space. Because if the viewer is inside the work, he becomes part of the work and he is modifying the work created by his unique body shape. On the other hand, light work is an art form that can gives the viewer an opportunity or an authority to recreate the artist’s work whether they are doing this consciously or unconsciously. The artwork immediately then returns back to its original state when the viewer finishes his movements and leaves the space.



Light has power in the space that it dominates. No matter how many viewers or objects in the room, they will be all accepted by light. The object and the shadow all are inside of light.


The British choreographer Russell Maliphant presents his dancing work Shift (final part) (1996) in an innovative way by integrating light and dance. He uses his body to cast shadows on the stage wall through the spot light. Maliphant is dancing on the stage and the shadows are dancing with him as well. Body and shows move together. There is only one dancer performing on stage, yet the audience can see many shadow dancers dancing at the same time. At the end of the dancing, Maliphant moves out the light sources and the shadows leave at the same time.





               Light, shadow and drawing



What can shadow do for a light work? Shadow is a space or a region where light from a light source has been blocked by an opaque object. Shadow occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind the object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, or reverse projection of the object blocking the light. This provides an opportunity for the artist who works with light to use an object to block the untouchable material: light to create a special image.


As an example, Japanese American artist Kumi Yamashita deals with light and shadow in her contemporary Light & Shadow series.


Yamashita subtly manipulates different materials such as paper, fabric and wood to introduce strategic lighting; the installation becomes about light and shadow. In Yamashita’s work, small cuts are made to paper and other materials that accompany the work, careful consideration is paid to folding and lighting. The shadow becomes a human figure or an image, which is her work. Without light and shadow, her work doesn’t exist.


Kumi Yamashita says “I sculpt using light and shadow. I construct single or multiple objects and place them in relation to a single light source. The complete artwork is therefore comprised of both the material (the solid objects) and the immaterial (the light or shadow).”[23]


Yamashita’s work enhances the function of light for a sculpture. Light shines and the curves or forms of a sculpture appear, regardless of what material the sculpture is made from. Light is able to show the tiny details from a sculpture that would not be seen in a dark space. The viewer needs light to appreciate the non-architecture, non-landscape sculptures as well as renaissance sculptures.


Yamashita’s work extends the function of sculpture in a sculptural artwork (if we define the sculpture as the art of carving, modeling, welding, or otherwise producing figurative or abstract works of art in three dimensions). The new function of sculpture is helping light to create a shadow that is the actual artwork. Sculpture becomes an object in the work. The artist uses the sculpture and different light sources for achieving the work: shadow. I think that there is the potential to direct people to a new perspective when we see a sculpture. If we think for a moment Michelangelo’s David[24] not as an artwork, but as an opaque solid object in Academia di Belle Arti di Firenze, with the dome as the light source casting an immaterial shadow on the floor. The shadow is the artwork. David is just an object for creating the shadow. So, with this in mind it leaves the traditional relationship between sculpture, light and shadow to be reconsidered. Traditionally, an artist only applies light onto an object (sculpture), to provide more details or to create a special atmosphere in a bright space. The shadow itself is without meaning or function. Maybe the only function of the shadow is to prove there is light in the space. But in Yamashita’s work, the privilege of the sculpture has been removed. The new hierarchy has been built between sculpture, light and shadow. Shadow is the most important component in the new relationship as it is the final result, which the artist wants to achieve. And light is still playing its essential role in the work, as without no light, there is no shadow. The function of light is not only improving detail but also giving life to the work. The sculpture becomes a less important component in the work. The function of the sculpture becomes a vehicle with which is to cast the image of shadow. So, no matter whether we are dealing with a detailed masterpiece or a rough beginner’s work, the effect is the same for shadow on the surface to achieve a similar result.


Yamashita’s work encourages thinking about expanding the relationship between light and shadow. What is the difference between a drawn shadow and a real shadow? Drawing is a residual mark of the hand or body movement by a person who uses various materials to make the mark on paper or on a two-dimension medium. Generally, the drawing medium can be materials such as pencils, pen, ink, wax, crayon, charcoal, chalk, pastel, paint, and various materials that can leave marks on surface. So, a drawn shadow is a mark, which the person applies with body movements onto the drawing medium.


For having a real shadow, we need something to block light. If we think of a viewer as a drawing medium, the shadow is then a drawing. When the viewer walks into the space, his body movement is like doing a drawing in the space. The light and the viewer’s body become the drawing medium, his body marks the wall or the floor. It breaks the eternity and unchangeable character of normal drawing/mark making. The result of drawing becomes temporary. The viewer is given the special function from the artist in the particular space. The viewer does the drawing in space as the light casts shadow no matter whether the shadow is strong or weak.


The gesture and movement from the body provides the artist with a way to integrate drawing into a contemporary light work with an adequate reason, drawing the shadow. So, in a new contemporary light work, we will have two drawn shadows, one is the light making where the viewer does the drawing in the space which is dominated by light, another one is the artist using his bodily movement to draw something responding to the light. It is like the ancient sun worship, the artist is creating something to worship the light in the work and what he creates is light’s brother: shadow. Because shadow is unavoidable with light, drawing the shadow is the best way to build a relationship with light. Light is the way to relate to two different things: drawing and shadow. Because without light, there is no shadow. Without light the drawn shadow is just a drawing. 






Light is always the main core in a light work. An artist spends lots of time to develop their light works further by using different light sources and modern lighting technology. The technology effects artistic creation by causing feelings as if becoming a scientist or an engineer. The spark of an artist’s observational skill and creativity is being put under pressure by technology. But sometimes, if we use a different artistic perspective to see what we are doing and what we have done, we can find something useful that we have not yet been concerned with or we have forgotten is there, like the shadow in light work.


Light and shadow, shadow and light, everyone knows their relation and connection, but I do not think that shadow has been investigated enough in contemporary light work. Many artists create many complicated instruments or high-tech technology constructions to express light in their light works. But these works lose the power of pure light. For example, in Leo Villareal’s Cylinder II in the exhibition Light Show in Auckland Art Gallery 2015, the viewer’s attention has been driven out by the cold metal structure and the large electrical wires. In my opinion, all the elements in the light work should only have one reason: enhancing light. If we think that sun worship is a light work, the sun is the most important element in the work, because sun is the only light source. The human being can’t help but increase this spectacular feeling from light. Even in the present, LED light or any other electrical light source that provides us all with energy, it is the sun. Technology helps us to convey the power from the sun, to then be the energy that we use in daily life.  


Integrating basic or traditional art materials from drawing, painting, sculptural elements into the light works using light and shadow could be a new way to provide another direction extending contemporary light work. The artist who uses light as their practical art medium will be focused on developing the relationship between light and the human being’s spirit rather than the scientific or technological.


What is drawing doing in this contemporary light work and what does it convey or do? As the contemporary Australian painter Dion Archibald said, “Drawing is the 'bones' of art. You have to be able to walk before you can run.”[25]


I believe that combining light with drawing can give me as an artist a new way to investigate light, and that drawing can help me jump out of the technology box and come back to the key of a light work: light. And the shadow will be the best and the proper binder entangling drawing and light in these illuminated works.


From ancient to present times, the use of light for spiritual and material purposes follows all of human history. New technology opens up all kinds of possibilities, but it cannot obscure the ancient source of all our energy and life. As an artist working with light, I need to rethink how to extend light and shadow into giving the viewer a new perspective to read the contemporary light work.





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[1] “Genesis 1-3 New International Version (NIV)”, Bible Gateway. Accessed September 10, 2015.


[2] Turrell, James. The Roden Crater Project (red and black volcanic cinder cone, 18288 cm ) 1974 - , Near Flagstaff, Arizona

[3] Holt, Nancy. Sun Tunnels (Concrete, 548.64 x 274.32 x 2621.28 cm) 1976, NW Utah, 40 miles N of Wendover, five miles S of Lucin, Utah

[4] “About.” Rodencrater. Accessed September 2, 2015.

[5] “Introduction.” James Turrell. Accessed September 2, 2015.


[7] Rosenmeyer, Aoife. “Expanded Field.” Frieze. Accessed August 23, 2015

[8] Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty (mud, precipitated salt crystals, rocks, water coil, 4600 x 46 cm) 1970, Rozel Point, Great Salt Lake, Utah

[9] “Earthwork.” Holt-Smithson Foundation. Accessed August 23, 2015

[10] More ‘expanding field’ artists from today’s tutorial.” Becky Bendy Legs. Accessed Auguest 10, 2015

[11] Auguste Rodin, The Gates of Hell (Bronze, 635 x 400 x 85cm) 1880-circa 1890, Musée Rodin, Paris

[12] Auguste Rodin, Monument to Balzac (Bronze, 280 x 120.5 x 128cm) 1898, Musée Rodin, Paris


[14] “Thoughts on ‘Sculpture in the Expanding Field’ by Rosalind Krauss.” Becky Bend Legs. Accessed August 23, 2015.





[18] Xu, Tan. “Original Creators: Minimalist Light Sculptor Dan Flavin”, The Creatorsproject. Accessed September 9, 2015.




[21]Fransic Bacon Quotes.” Brainy Quote. Accessed September 3, 2015.



[23] Yamashita, Kumi. “Light & Shadow”. Kumi Yamashita. Accessed September 4, 2015.

[24] Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. David (Carrara marble, 500 cm) 1501-1504, Academia di Belle Arti di Firenze, Firenze.

[25] Percy, Natasha. “Again with Feeling”. Artist’s Palette Magazine. Accessed August 27, 2015.