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About the artwork
Listen to the artist statement for Stump Light
Lighting, and its ability to shape mood, is central to my practice.
The warm, dappled qualities in the Stump Light draw from the experience of walking beneath a forest canopy—an instinctive sense of calm created by shifting light and shadow. This natural effect underpins the Stump Light and the wider Cracked Log Light range. With less than five percent vision concentrated around the periphery I focus on overall form and on how light moves through and around objects. My way of seeing inspires the randomised beams that characterise my work. Rather than a limitation, my disability offers a unique lens that influences my designs and supports my aim to create lighting that helps people feel grounded and at ease.
While my practice is shaped by my lived experience, I still face barriers, be it societal level or attitudinal - through assumptions about disability within the visually dominated fields of art, lighting, and furniture design. Despite this, the Stump Light has become central to my creative identity, receiving national and international recognition and commissions. My work demonstrates that a good, rich creative life is not only possible with disability but is strengthened by the perspective it brings.
About the artist - Duncan Meerding
I am a lighting and furniture Designer/Maker based in Tasmania, Australia. Much of my work is inspired by the natural environment. Concentration on overall form, rather than intense detailing, with an interest in how light performs through and around these forms and materials, is of interest to me. This light emanating from the periphery reflects the alternative sensory world in which I design, being legally blind with less than 5% vision. I try to avoid quick moving trends in my work, but instead focus on designing and making things to stand the test of time, both metaphorically and physically.