One Line Light Painting
In June 2021, Jason D. Page of Light Painting Photography interviewed Salventius about his one-line light paintings. Below is a short summary. The full interview can be read on lightpaintingphotography.com.
Drawing in one line
Drawing, painting, photography and sculpture have always been part of his life. Around ten years before the interview he started drawing portraits in a single continuous line: no sketch, no plan, fully focused on the moment itself. What interests him is less the face than the person behind it, and how people can look alike yet feel completely different.
From marker to light
His first experiments with light date back to around 2006, writing his name with a new camera on a beach in France.
Years later, the first one-line portrait drawn in light was made in the dark basement of an abandoned newspaper building in Belgium.
Why light
With light painting the result only appears once the drawing is finished, which matches the way he works: in the now, without looking back. Every image is still a discovery. And because a light drawing leaves no physical trace, it is also a sustainable way of making art.
Tools and places
It started with marker caps on a small flashlight; today he works with light painting brushes, self-made light bulbs and custom flashlights.
The surroundings shape the work, and the best pieces often happen when he comes across a striking place by chance with his gear at hand. Among his influences he names filmmaker David Lynch. His dream location: the Moon, or the Arctic under the Northern Lights, to draw the world as one line.
