Something About the Sky
Lori Hepner, 2025
The artist builds wearable LED devices that play back her skyscape photographs as she moves through space, translating traditional skyscape and landscape photographs into expressions of light and movement. This unique process, where her performances leave visual trails of clouds, waves, and sunsets captured in video and photographs, is at the heart of her ‘Drawing with Light’ practice. The resulting artwork captures the essence of motion, layering vibrant colors and shapes evoking the shifting patterns of the sky—while creating a sense of energy and flow.
The artwork draws inspiration from the feeling of looking upwards and allowing the mind to wander freely. It reflects Hepner’s fascination with the sky as a space for contemplation, a canvas for personal dreams and aspirations, and a universal element that connects us all.
Materials: Photography, Glass
Location: Ground Level, Pre-security Terminal
Type: Photography
Lori Hepner’s method of light-trace dancing initially emerged from discovering her neurodivergence in 2019. Her photographs transform lived experiences into abstract visual language. Located on the terminal’s ground level, Hepner’s artwork is often the first glimpse travelers get when they enter the airport.
Photos by Renee Piechocki
Photo courtesy of Lori Hepner
About the Artist
Lori Hepner is a new media artist working primarily in performative light painting, fine art photography, and community-centered public art projects. She has completed artist residencies in an Arctic community in coastal Norway, as well as Finland, Iceland, and the Canadian Yukon in addition to her hometown of Pittsburgh. Her photographic work has been featured in Time Magazine, Wired and Next Level Magazine and has been exhibited at the Houston Center for Photography, Carnegie Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum. Her work has been featured at photo festivals in the Netherlands, China and Spain.
Photo courtesy of Lori Hepner
