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Fly Like a Butterfly

Hampshire · 2022–2023

Fly Like a Butterfly

Sculpture · Performance · Installation · Film

The Idea

Nature is a source of inspiration, driving the artist to change her audience's perception of how the world uses its resources and to think more deeply about how lifestyle choices affect the planet. The butterfly is a powerful metaphor for transformation and personal growth.

Fly Like a Butterfly is a project by award-winning artist Olana Light focusing on wearable sculpture, performance, installation and film. The project explores the theme of metamorphoses and change through a series of large-scale wearable caterpillar and butterfly sculptures, largely constructed from natural materials including reindeer moss. The butterfly serves as a powerful metaphor for transformation — beginning life as a caterpillar and emerging after dormancy from its cocoon.

The Work

Fly Like a Butterfly — Rose Garden Southsea performanceSolent Sky Services
Fly Like a Butterfly — Rose Garden Southsea performanceSolent Sky Services
Fly Like a Butterfly — Rose Garden Southsea performanceSolent Sky Services
Fly Like a Butterfly wearable sculptureOlana Light
Fly Like a Butterfly wearable sculpture performanceOlana Light
Fly Like a Butterfly showreel stillOlana Light
Fly Like a Butterfly wearable sculptureOlana Light
Fly Like a Butterfly performanceOlana Light
Fly Like a Butterfly — Rose Garden SouthseaOlana Light
Fly Like a Butterfly wearable sculpture performanceOlana Light
Fly Like a Butterfly wearable sculpture performanceOlana Light
Fly Like a Butterfly wearable sculptureOlana Light

Materials

What the work is made of.

  • Reindeer moss
  • Natural materials
  • Mixed media

Place

Presented in public and gallery spaces across Hampshire — including Havant, Southampton, Bridport and London — the project takes art out to the public, reaching ordinary people and passers-by who may not have regular access to the arts.

Recognition & Commission

Commissioned by

  • Arts Council England

Funded by

  • Arts Council England
  • Gane Grant

Partners

  • Making Space Havant
  • Bridport Arts Centre
  • Gallery No.32
  • Little Forest Land Art

Awards

  • Arts Council England Project Grant 2022
  • StreetLife & Aesthetica Changing Rooms Commission Winner 2022

Press

Aesthetica Art Prize

Olana Light — Fly Like a Butterfly (2023)

Credits

Supported by public funding from the National Lottery, through Arts Council England, and the Gane Grant.