Ilan El
Along with a team of local artisans and fabricators, Ilan El composes modern pieces inspired by natural phenomena. Trained in Architecture and Industrial Design, a vivid yearning for discovery is applied to each work. His multidisciplinary expression forms objects, artworks and luminaries. These are made to order based on the atelier’s collection or custom-designed for homes, workspaces and public places.
Reflections of nature and its cyclical dalliance are celebrated, maintaining a raw connection to softness and science. There is a silent statement of power and human potential in the industrial edge of the design. This inspiration pushes the atelier’s work into an experiential realm. The conjunction of experience, observation and sensory function form a distinguishable mark on what would otherwise be a decorative piece.
A conscious adaptation to design affords each luminaire a low-impact environmental journey. By using considered materials and processes, ILANEL Design Studio is in touch with the path of every object from concept to the end of its life cycle.
Interested in the experiential quality of light and its potential for positive psychological and emotional effects, Ilan explores the colours of the visible spectrum to develop works with playful, interactive and automated elements. His recent series of artworks – Luminism, challenge the limited ways we perceive the world around us. Through the hybrid of black and white photographs and vibrant coloured illumination, these pieces elicit emotional responses that aim to cultivate a heightened sense of awareness and a favourable environment for a dynamic and intimate experience. They invite the viewer to engage in a contemplative and mindful journey by transforming familiar landscapes into vivid, illumi- nated scenes. The once-static nature of the photographs is effortlessly set in motion, creating a unique synergy between stillness and movement. Through the hypnotic effect of transparent colour, Luminism stimulates meditative stillness and offers a transformative experience of the radiating, coloured light.
His installations and work have been presented at the Bayside Local at Bayside Gallery (2023); Fringe Design at Linden Newart Gallery (2023); Melbourne Design Fair (2023); Colours of Light solo show at Linden Newart Gallery (2022); Melbourne Design Week (2017 – Departures, 2018 – Decoding Design, 2020 – Light+Life, 2021 – Wisdom of Objects, 2022 – Reflections, 2023 – Fragile); Globelight, Melbourne (2013 – 2016).
His large-scale commissions include an interactive light sculpture, Ora, for the National Gallery of Victoria’s Triennial (2020); An interactive lighting installation, 39 Steps, for the Justin Art House Museum, Melbourne (2019); A backdrop lighting installation, Shimmering Lights, for Save the Children Gala, New York (2016); A 13m multi-tiered light installa- tion, Deco Grandeur, for the Royal Bank Chambers, Melbourne (2015); and a growing portfolio of bespoke luminaires for high-end hotels and private residences across the globe.
