The Colour Spectrum.

Today is an exciting day for yellowtrace as I get to introduce you to our first ever regular contributor. Give it up for Miss Ella Leoncio. Hooray! You might remember this clever young lady from her recent guest posts, or you may already know her through her fantastic blog pages from my moleskine. Either way, you are going to get to know Ella better as she drops in every fortnight to sprinkle some good stuff. I have no doubt you will fall in love with her like I already have.

Ella is a bit of an overachiever I reckon, and one of those people with endless talents. Apart from working as an architect, running her blog, and pursuing countless hobbies, Ella is currently working on an exciting installation with her two friends, Caitlin and Rob. The installation is called GEYSER and it will be exhibited at manysquaremetres this September (28th-30th) as part of Melbourne Fringe.

Take it away Ella! –  dana x

Firstly, can I just say that I am so excited to become a regular contributor here at yellowtrace? I do like it around these parts and feel tremendously honoured that Dana has invited me to stick around. I’m super keen to get started so let’s get stuck into it right away!

I wanted to call this post “Rainbows” but that sounded a little juvenile (like I love unicorns and comic sans). In all seriousness though, how amazing are rainbows? No matter how old I get, I continue to be mesmerised by that array of piercing, saturated colour. That intensity of colour makes them so undeniably present but at the same time, so ethereal. It’s a fascinating and alluring contradiction.

This selection of work captures that magic and then some. Some of these use tangible materials that visually dissolve to give the impression of coloured light. Others are more scientific in their approach, using light, reflection and refraction to achieve their results.

Despite the varied approaches, all of these allow us to linger a little longer in that transient world of coloured light.

A selection of images from The Portrait Machine Project by Carlo Van de Roer. Created using a Polaroid aura camera. These are captured using electromagnetic field input from the subjects. This information feeds into the camera, creating layers of colour. Clockwise from top left: Phillip Starck 2010, Yoko Okutsu in 2008, Miranda July in 2009 , Aurel Schmidt (Two) 2009 // Source: The Portrait Machine.

New York Ace Gallery Installation by Hiro Yamagata 2001. An installation combining holographic surfaces, mirrors and light. The surfaces are not fixed, meaning the lighting conditions are in constant flux // Source: thred.org

Refractive Monolith by Lee Baker. The Future Tense’s Spectra I exhibition in London, 2011. Coloured yarns // Source: Lee Baker.

It Was All Ephemeral as a Rainbow (Welcome to the Anthropocene!) by Steven Morgana 2010-2012 . Curved acyrlic mirror and neon lights // Source: Steven Morgana.

Rainbow by Mark Hammer & Andre Kecskes, Vivid Festival, Sydney 2009. Coloured fluorescent tube lighting // Source:  angel flores jr.

The Density of Light, Plexus no. 10 by Gabriel Dawe, Lot 10 Gallery Brussels, 2012. Coloured string & hooks. Copyright electricegg.co.uk // Source:  lot 10.

Beauty by Olafur Eliasson AROS Aarhus Kunstmuseam 2004 (original exhibited in New York, 1993). Photograph by Poul Pederson // Source:  art tattler.

Bronson Caves light paintings by Brice Bischoff, California 2012. Long exposure photographs of dancing figures // Source: designboom.

Untitled works by Dan Flavin at Hayward Gallery 2006 // Source: london–se1 & art–documents.

Solar Spectrum Art by Peter Erskine. The artist exploits daylight under the site’s specific conditions using a series of cut prisms. Top: Spectrum of Time, Rainbow Sundial Calendar, Germany. Bottom: New Light on Rome, 2000, Trajan’s Markets, Rome // Source: Peter Erskine.

– Ella.