We're super-excited to be part of this year's Taiwan Lantern Festival, welcoming the first full moon of the Lunar New Year.  This is the first time since 2001 that the festival returns to Taipei, my childhood home (Hsiao-Chi), and also the first large-scale international event to be held in Taiwan since the easing of pandemic restrictions.  All of which means that our contribution, First Light, in Yanji Park until Sunday 19 February, holds special significance for us.  If you live nearby, please come visit and enjoy our immersive tree-scape. For more information, visit:

Date:         05 - 19 February 2023
Location:  Beacons of Light Display Zone - Yanji Park, Da'an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106

This year, for the first time, the Taiwan Lantern Festival will be a truly urban one, with art installations fully integrated into Taipei's bustling architecture, combining the modern and the traditional.  Our work, First Light, reflects this approach in both form and materials as it winds its way through the lush trees of Yanji Park. 

Traditional lanterns are made by highly-skilled artisans who use thin strips of bamboo and wires to build complex, three-dimensional frames.  Beautiful, thin fabrics are then stretched around these structures like skins to create decorative objects such as flowers, dragons and other animals - traditional symbols of prosperity, longevity and happiness. 

Our artwork, First Light, is a modern interpretation of these traditional methods:  we use the branches from a group of banyan and maples to form our decorative frame.  The 'skin' is then formed by suspending hundreds of light-weight, waterproof, neoprene elements between the leaves and branches, creating a large-scale, colourful cloud that appears to float in mid-air.  During the day, these organic forms resemble colourful flowers, blossoming on the trees.  At night, the structure of the trees recedes, and the installation transforms into a dazzling, starry sky.  

While making First Light, we really enjoyed exploring volumes and the void spaces between the trees.  The arrangement of our lantern 'skin' gradually reveals these three-dimensional relationships and the sculptural qualities of the trees.  Visitors to the park can walk around the trees and immerse themselves in the installation .  We hope they will enjoy the fluidity of this modern, immersive lantern which appears to expand and contract as they move around the park.  Several people have commented how it resembles a blessing dragon flying through the air.  Come visit while you can!