Light Bath Portal
King Mallard
About the piece: Light Bath Portal is an interactive light installation where festival-goers become living artworks through projected light patterns. Participants step into an open structure housing two short-throw projectors that instantly transform their bodies into illuminated canvases — covering them in dynamic, flowing patterns of color and light. A camera inside the structure captures their illuminated form in real time, and a third projector displays their image at a larger scale on a nearby surface, creating a powerful moment where participants see themselves transformed and celebrated through light. The installation requires no prior experience or artistic direction. Clear signage (2'x3' instructional signs) and floor markings guide participants naturally — walk up, read, step into the light. It's designed for continuous public flow rather than individual sessions, meaning hundreds of participants can experience the portal each night of the festival. The experience works on two levels. Inside the portal, participants feel the immediate transformation of light wrapping around their body, creating what I call an "armor of artwork" — a moment of play, beauty, and confidence in their own skin. Then the re-projection display amplifies that moment, showing them larger than life on a nearby surface. Seeing yourself transformed and celebrated at that scale is deeply empowering, and it turns something personal into a shared spectacle — each participant becomes a performer, and the surrounding crowd becomes an audience, building collective wonder around individual transformation. Light Bath Portal represents a new evolution of my Light Baths practice, which has spent nearly a decade creating transformative experiences through projected light — from intimate portrait sessions to public installations at festivals, galleries, and large-scale events. Those installations have always centered on guided, enclosed experiences where participants step into a light-controlled environment one or two at a time. The portal breaks that open entirely, making the experience free-flowing, communal, and accessible to anyone who walks through. The installation is weather-adaptable, utilizing a modified canopy structure with custom-printed walls for visual impact and equipment protection. The core technique of projecting precisely mapped light patterns onto human bodies has been developed and refined over a full decade of work across 50+ events. The real-time capture and re-projection system is powered by TouchDesigner, purpose-built software for interactive visual installations.
About the artists: A Brooklyn-based artist, they have spent the past decade developing Light Baths, a practice that transforms human bodies and spaces through projected light and digital patterns. What began in 2016 as intimate portrait sessions has grown into gallery exhibitions, performance collaborations, and large-scale public installations.
Their medium combines projection technology with live interaction to create what they call an “armor of artwork,” transforming participants’ skin into illuminated canvases that empower new forms of self-expression. Drawing from a background in hospitality, they focus on crafting safe, welcoming spaces where people can explore transformation through light.
Their work has been shown at The Other Art Fair in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, Miami Art Week’s Satellite Art Show, and the 92nd Street Y, as well as in multiple solo exhibitions, including Light Baths: Environments Reflected at Button Studios and Light Baths: Focus at CIA Gallery. They also completed a two-week ChaShaMa residency in Midtown Manhattan featuring daily interactive public programming.
They maintain an ongoing projection design partnership with Cipriani and have presented Light Baths at more than 50 events across the United States. After attending Illumination NYC 2025 as an audience member, they were inspired by the festival’s commitment to interactive, community-driven light art—an approach that closely aligns with the direction in which they are continuing to develop their own practice.