Gretchen Larsen


Sculptural Light Installation,
Creative Code &
Education Research.

About
CV





My creative practice allows me to gently build a life, both public and private, where I am in tune with its shape and its particular shade.









Small VJ Quilt 
A scaled-down prototype created in preparation for her sister Large VJ quilt (a 4’ x 4’ project).  She has two different “moving states,” adjustable speed, and fully customizable HSV color.

She uses digi-fab techniques, arduino, and RGB LED strip lighting. 







Small Box Lamp 
A small wooden box that uses a single incandescent bulb to create illuminated imagery on front and back.
Small Box Lamp was designed to also function as a scented object. The back opens and you can drop scented oils onto the bulb before turning on.
Wall/Room
A notched poplar wall piece depicting a barred room. 





Plaid Cube
A wood, acrylic, LED strip, arduino, digi-fab cube lamp that is an exploration of light-based versus pigment based color.

The plaid pattern continues down onto the wooden base. Her acrylic “skirt” an opaque circle allows her to be shifted from a “daytime” to “evening” look.

WHY SWEEP THE CINDERS...

In my creative practice I climb down the ladder, put the glass slipper on my own foot, and build the ball for myself (and everyone I know). What I mean is, instead of waiting for the prince and his kingdom to come, I have learned to pursue my own dreams. I do this by dreaming up and building objects using a mixture of traditional and new media. I work with wood, acrylic, LEDs, microcontrollers, lamp parts, and other materials including fabric and projectors. I create, live with, and create againobjects of my own design. The objects I create are in the pursuit of my questions and interests.  

Installation view facing West from Why Sweep the Cinders... 



Bouquet Lamp 
A wood, acrylic, LED,  and arduino lamp object meant to replace a vase filled with flowers in the wintertime. Designed and built to provide task and ambient light.

The glowing vase has 6 different color scenes, and the incandescent bulbs dim.

Installation view facing North from Why Sweep the Cinders...



Orb Lamp 
Orb Lamp iterates my ongoing exploration of the shifting hue of flower petals. Many flowers shift from pink and green to purple and blue before they die.
So do I!
GRETCHEN LARSEN
May 2023

— Sculpture and light installation
— Creative code education & research