Derisly Carson's sculptural lighting designs are as much feats of engineering as they are works of art.
Designed using CAD software and produced on a 3D printer, each piece is painstakingly assembled before thousands of LEDs are threaded through hidden cavities inside the structure.
It took him 80 hours to create his conch shell, which will go on show beside two other works in the Rutherford Hotel during Bayleys Te Ramaroa – Nelson’s Light Festival from 3 July. Like his intricate Dandelion and Wings in Flight, it’s functional art using a process he has been working on for years.
Unlike most light designs that rely on lightbulbs, his creations have the LED lighting built into the structure so that the entire artwork lights up. Made mostly from cornstarch with some wood content, the strips are sanded and assembled as a kitset, before threading LEDs through them. In the case of the conch shell, that’s 15 metres of lighting - 7,200 LEDs using just 120 watts.
The end result is “functional lighting” that can also be dimmed to highlight just the artwork.
“The idea is it’s the wow factor in your house,” he says.
“The only way you can make something like this is by printing it. It has taken me years to get to this stage because a printer has hundreds of variables. You think you have it, and then one slight change on a setting and you’re back to square one.
“I don’t think many people would want to follow my path – it’s too frustrating!”
After Waimea College, Derisly spent six years in the Royal New Zealand Air Force as an aircraft mechanic, giving him the wiring knowledge used in his lighting, while a degree in product development helped him develop his intricate lighting designs.
Known as MacGyver at school, after the resourceful TV character, he was always inventing things. His mother, Sandra Mead, remembers him losing his eyebrows and fringe when one experiment didn’t quite go to plan.
These days, his sculptural lights combine that inventive streak with artistic flair – without any threat to his eyebrows.
He began working on his inventive creations during the Covid-19 pandemic after returning from the Philippines with his wife, Chrestine. Initially living with Sandra and her husband Graham, he finally had time to explore ideas, and Derisly Design was born.
For now, his sculptural lighting is a spare-time pursuit, but his goal is to turn it into a full-time business.
The light festival runs from 3-7 July in Nelson’s CBD, lighting up laneways and gardens with illuminated art, as well as the Rutherford Hotel which will host a light art gallery that includes Derisly’s work.
