Australia
I believe light, story and technology can transform how communities see themselves — and each other. I’m a creative director and digital artist with 25+ years of experience creating immersive projection works that bring places to life through light, story, and technology. I’m best known as the founder of illuminart, the award-winning studio behind dozens of Australia’s most iconic regional light shows and digital placemaking projects. My practice is wide-ranging — I draw, illustrate, design, animate, curate, and write. I also lead full-scale son et lumière productions from concept to final edit. I’m comfortable jumping in as a creative collaborator on a small activation, or taking the reins to build an ambitious, multi-year public art legacy. The common thread: I use light and story to forge lasting connections between people and place. Over the past 15+ years, I’ve worked with: • Councils and developers seeking to activate space with meaning • Museums and curators bringing history and culture into the public realm • Architects and exhibition designers integrating immersive tech into their vision • Regional creatives and communities learning to tell stories through projection • Artists and specialists looking for an innovative collaboration I’ve helped lead more than 500 public art activations and immersive light experiences — including permanent installations, silo shows, interactive museums, mobile experiences, touring works, and major festivals — and I’ve mentored dozens of regional artists and producers along the way. If you're working on: • A public-facing creative project needing projection, light, or immersive media • A cultural precinct, museum, or interpretive space seeking emotional impact • A community project with a powerful story to tell • Or you're looking for artistic leadership, storytelling strategy, or a fresh perspective… I'd love to connect. Highlights: • Founder and Artistic Director of illuminart • Australian Event Awards, Ruby Awards, and Street Art Awards winner • Epson Projection Art Ambassador • Recognised nationally for pioneering digital storytelling in public space Based in NSW and SA. Working nationally. Let’s have a conversation — I’m open to select collaborations, commissions, and creative consulting where I can contribute my strengths and deliver real value. [email protected] | www.illuminart.com.au
Illuminart Productions Pty Ltd (aka Illuminart®) is a leading projection arts innovation company in Australia. Illuminart's best known work involves the spectacular transformation of buildings with animated imagery and for other innovative applications of projection technology, with positive outcomes for communities. Illuminart have supported theatre, public arts and events projects around Australia, ranging from festival installations, permanent projection and lighting projects, museum interactives, and live performance. Illuminart also self present new works including cultural heritage projects and interactive installations. The team also work in partnerships and collaborations within public art and community arts projects to support community engagement, research and development, and audience development. The illuminart team are a dedicated core of employees who have worked together to research, develop and construct innovative applications of projection technology, drawing on their knowledge, talent and experience working with light and new media. Team members include cultural heritage specialists, interactive programming, animation, storytelling, electronics, music and projection mapping specialists. The company is owned and led by multidisciplinary artist Cindi Drennan, who provides artistic and technical leadership to the team, and consulting support to partners. Her specialist knowledge is in the area of projection art, arts and cultural sector, entertainment, community arts projects and in education. Cindi's artistic practice and research provides direction for permanent installations, interactive projection and light sculptures for public spaces and events, and for precinct based Architectural Storytelling.
In my work as a projection artist, I have produced, directed and created projected audiovisual and illuminated arts projects for performances, events and environments. I've had an ongoing adoration of "illumination" meaning not only light, but also of "bringing enlightenment", and this element of awakening and bringing deeper levels of meaning has been fundamental to my arts practice. My earliest work with projection art involved breaking the rectangular format of Cinema screens and working with shapes and forms. These steps exploring light as form predate the commonly used term "projection mapping" and pioneered the artform in Australia. Being strongly interested in community arts, I have frequently chosen to work on projects that would provide outcomes for communities as well as offering a legacy of media and documentation. The techniques I enjoy using in my arts practice are expansive, combining various media including sculpture, textiles, electronics, and illustration. My arts practice has frequently involved collaboration and working within teams, providing support, creative input into direction/dramaturgy, designing sets or aspects of environments, while building content that excites audiences and enables deeper levels of meaning. Building an independent arts company that specialises in this artform has taken much of my time in the last few years, but I continue to create and curate work under my own name and a number of psuedonyms, allowing me to produce work that is quite disparate in style - from gracious, spiritual and subtle through to political, irreverent or just plain comedy. I love every facet of the potential of projected image-as-light and this passion drives the ongoing commitment and joy in the artform,
Kaleidoscope was an annual festival of light with its inaugural program 10-13 November 2016. The festival combines principles of collaboration, contemporary art, community art and innovation, using light and moving image as the medium. I assisted with developing the unique vision for the festival during in 2015, and curated the inaugural year in 2016, providing further consultation in 2017 onwards. I worked alongside the event managers Mellen Events, and presenters the City of Joondalup to build, design and evaluate the first year, which was widely acclaimed and brought over 50,000 people to the city over the four nights. https://kaleidoscope.illuminart.com.au/
Cindi Drennan worked part time for Country Arts SA as Project Officer for the 2008 Regional Centre for Culture "Port Augusta Re-Imagines". During this eighteen month period she organised a number of projects and workshops in the year long program and was also involved in marketing and presentation. Projects included: Film Camp for young people; Port Augusta Film Festival; the Digital Storytelling workshop (run by the Media Resource Centre); Young Visions art classes and exhibition; the School of the Air artists residency and exhibition; Heritage Walk and various history workshops.
Lead Projection Artist / Creative Director for the company, creating concepts and designs for Large Format projection (for PIGI projectors and Onlyview video systems). Projects of note include: Design and Film production for Macquarie St Night Lights projection installation for Christmas 2005 and 2006; Design and Film production for L'oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival 2005 - ACMI exterior projections and Runway projections; Design and Film production for Singapore National Day Parade 2006. Film production for Melbourne Commonwealth Games 2006 and Dohar Asian Games 2006. Work also involved managing the company's Art department, designing and producing marketing materials, website and corporate identity.