artist : Valeska Soares
“Vaga Lume” is comprised of thousands of individual porcelain sockets and commercial bulbs of warm yellow light anchored overhead into the gallery ceiling; each of the lights may be turned on or off by a beaded chain which extends vertically from the ceiling towards the floor. These chains fill the space completely, creating a repeated series of veils that one has to move through. As the viewer navigates the space, he or she becomes a performer that activates the work by pulling on the chains to turn the lights on and off; by changing the pattern of lights, the viewer creates a changing composition of visual illumination. Vaga Lume exists in time as it changes constantly. Soares describes one’s physical experience of Vaga Lume as “almost like being in the middle of a waterfall, looking at constellations in the sky.” In Portuguese, Vaga Lume refers to a light that is subtle, wandering, vague and transient. -Artslant
