Lux Ducit – permanent installation at Lux School for Special Education – Utrecht 2025

For the renovation of Lux, a school for special education in Utrecht, I created a ceiling installation in the building’s central communal space. The commission called for work that would evoke wonder in children while maintaining a tactile presence – qualities the school considered essential to its learning environment.

Lux Ducit consists of gilded clay celestial bodies suspended just below the ceiling, moving through space like charms on a bracelet. The title translates as “Light Leads,” referencing both the school’s Latin name and the historical function of stars as navigation points for travelers and seafarers. The work connects to the school’s educational vision of guidance and support for students with specific learning needs.

My material choices carry symbolic weight: clay as earthbound, ancient material; gold as cosmic element formed only when dying stars implode. All gold on Earth originates from stellar death – making every element in our bodies quite literally stardust. The combination suggests we are both unique and connected, individual stars on the same thread.

The installation forms part of my larger research project Cosmotheoros (World Contemplator), named after Christiaan Huygens’ 17th-century treatise attempting to look beyond Earth’s boundaries. Through artistic investigations into hidden histories, legends, and cosmological narratives, I explore invisible threads connecting human stories across cultures and time.

The site-specific installation consists of gilded clay celestial bodies mounted on a garland of copper tubes suspended from the ceiling – a constellation held together by earthbound metal, each element catching light as it moves through the communal space.