Our artists
Alan Dunne
Alan Dunne is an illustrator who loves making comics and picture books. He has created illustrations for museums, postage stamps, short form animations, and heritage projects. He illustrated The Great Irish History Book by historian and broadcaster Myles Dungan. He lectures part-time at NCAD. In a previous life he was a designer for RTÉ Television.
Written by Stephen Mac Devitt and illustrated by Alan Dunne, this story is the theme of the 2022 programme. Rua’s journey forms the trail for Dublin Winter Lights, and at each site is a QR code which brings the viewer to the animated page of the story narrated by Fergus McDonagh. It will take centre stage at a new projection mapping location at the Georges Dock, and is available in book format at Dublin City Libraries and online at dublinwinterlights.ie
Alan - It was a joy illustrating Rua the squirrel and her exploration of the Dublin City Winter Lights, and working with the witty words of Stephen Mac Devitt. Seeing Rua's story projected in light is exciting and magical.
Stephen Mac Devitt
Stephen Mac Devitt is an award winning designer, visual artist and educator. Working with new and emerging technologies joins his two areas of expertise and passion, the creation of experiential spaces and the production of digital content. Born and bred in the city he has worked with the Dublin Winter Lights for several years and is immensely proud of the work he has created with his fellow Dubliners for all those in the city during the festive season. He lectures in the National College of Art and Design and is the creative director of Lightscape Visuals.
Written by Stephen Mac Devitt and illustrated by Alan Dunne, this story is the theme of the 2022 programme. Rua’s journey forms the trail for Dublin Winter Lights, and at each site is a QR code which brings the viewer to the animated page of the story narrated by Fergus McDonagh. It will take centre stage at a new projection mapping location at the Georges Dock, and is available in book format at Dublin City Libraries and online at dublinwinterlights.ie
Stephen - Working with our partners in Event Co and DCC Events, we created the story of Rua, a red squirrel, on her adventure across Dublin to get home. Along the way she meets the quirky, wise and weird natives of the city, with each verse set at a Dublin Winter Lights location.
Alfredo Espeche
Alfredo Espeche is an interdisciplinary designer with over a decade of experience working with creative agencies specialising in motion graphics and architectural visualizations.
He is passionate about creating intuitive, simple, beautiful and engaging designs. Originally from Argentina, he is currently based between Dublin & Madrid.
The Last Bus Home on Christmas Eve is a 360 degree projection mapping artwork located in the heart of Smithfield Square. A light show full of colour and energy, taking a trip to the abstract, and paying homage to those who stand in hope of the last bus home on Christmas Eve.
Afonso Boranga
Afonso Boranga is a Brazilian designer who works with a variety of different mediums and projects, specialising with motion. He enjoys creating 2D animations bringing them to life with energy, colour and playful details.
Opened in 2009 the Samuel Beckett Bridge spans the Liffey, connecting the southside Sir John Rogerson's Quay to the northside North Wall. Using an array of several thousand LED lights that joins the two sides of the city gives us both the canvas and the inspiration for this piece.
What better way to represent the long standing rivalry between the north and southsiders of the city than with a festive snowball fight? Only this one seems to escalate out of control very quickly - choose your side carefully and with passion!
Brian Kenny
Brian Kenny is a projection mapping specialist whose work focuses on the transformation of environments through the manipulation of lighting and video technology. His work spans all formats of presentation from contemporary galleries to large-scale outdoor productions. He is the founder of Lightscape Visuals.
When working with a canvas the size of the Spire in an urban centre, we strive for a balance of visual interest without becoming imposing or dominating in the space. To achieve this we spend a lot of time with digital pre-visualisations of the installation in-situ to see how different movements at different speeds work.
This colour palette was chosen to bring a warmth against the dark Irish winter skies. I enjoyed watching the development of the Winter Lights book over the last couple of months, and wanted to include an extract from this, where the main character Rua the squirrel comes across a pigeon, afraid of heights on top off the spire.
The LED array design by Eventco is capped at 40 metres to match the height of Nelson’s Pillar, which stood in this spot before the spire was constructed.
Robbyn Gray
Robbyn Gray is an Irish Illustrator currently based between Dublin and Amsterdam. A recent graduate from the National College of Art and Design, her interest is in creating work that is human focused, ranging from universal to deeply personal experiences through design, illustration, character and storytelling.
Are seagulls really that bad? Is the city under siege or are they just misunderstood?? Set in the environs of DCC’s newest park in the heart of the city, and projected onto the wall of the old Marshalsea debtors prison, this is the tale of one seagull, one girl and one bag of tasty tasty chips.
Carla Soriani
Carla Soriani is an Art Director and Motion Designer with a masters in Applied Digital Media. Originally from Brazil, her work expresses energy, movement and vibrant use of colours - a characteristic she takes from the traditional Latino art style.
The Merrion Square tree installation is a story about the gathering of friends and family that occurs over the festive season. A squirrel and a robin reunite for the holidays on one of the Merrion Square Park's trees, a celebration of joy and connection after a long year.
The installation is a nine metre tall, 360° projection mapped tree. The animation is created entirely in 3D using a playful cartoon aesthetic and real world textures to create a warm and tactile feel to the visuals.
Lucas Lupo
Lucas Lupo is a multi disciplinary designer from Buenos Aires based in Dublin. His constantly growing range of work, from motion graphics to live events, seeks to bring static designs to life, combining them with sounds to make the experience complete.
Blending the new tech with the old school we take over a wall in Merrion Square Park to create three irresistible photo-ops. Based on the classic seaside photo peep board with a modern twist, this is the perfect spot for everyone to get their snap taken to share and save as a memory of their Dublin Winter Lights adventure.
