Professional dot-connector, specializing in Light Art and bright ideas.
My curiosity led me from astronomy to a PhD in Light Art, stopping by 40+ festivals worldwide along the way (and I still haven't seen enough!). Now, I connect people, teach cultural entrepreneurship and guide art students in building sustainable careers. I explore light's potential to create wonder and amplify ideas that foster creative communities.
J O U R N E Y
1990s–2005 · Sibiu — Astronomy
Looking up
Mathematics-informatics at Gheorghe Lazăr National College; astronomy and astrophysics olympiads, including the international olympiad in Beijing, 2005. The first practice of perception: careful observation of light.
2009–2014 · Cluj-Napoca — Light
From lens to medium
BA and MA in Photo-Video at the University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca. The camera teaches light as material; the studio turns it into sculpture.
2011–2022 · Perception
Deconstructing how we see
From RGB.Network to the in[visible] series: mirrors, kinetic LEDs and optical modules built to question what audiences take for granted.
2017–present · Public space
Refraction into the city
The works leave the gallery — Electric Castle, light festivals across Europe — and a PhD models the shift: the festivalization of Light Art.
2023–present · Education
Teaching autonomy
Lecturer, then Head of Sculpture at UAD Cluj-Napoca. Creative entrepreneurship classes that treat artistic freedom as something artists can build deliberately.
2018–present · Cultural ecosystems
Building the field
Artistic Director of Lights On Romania since the first edition; TRI-CREATES (Horizon Europe) for UAD; UniversitArt and Schoolptura. Next: followlight.art — an independent platform for the global Light Art community, in development.
E X P E R I E N C E
2024 — Current
Head of Sculpture Department — UAD Cluj-Napoca
2023 — Current
Lecturer, Sculpture & Creative Entrepreneurship — UAD
2018 — Current
Artistic Director — Lights On Romania
2014 — 2023
Cultural & Community Projects Coordinator — UAD
W H Y C H O O S E M E
I work at the crossing of art, science and community
Exhibited internationally
In-Between and in[visible] have travelled to light festivals in Copenhagen, London, Essen and Leeds. Four works are on permanent view at the Immersive Museum Sibiu.
Research-backed practice
My PhD on the festivalization of Light Art is one of the few academic treatments of the genre. The practice and the theory feed each other.
Festival builder
As artistic director of Lights On Romania since its first edition in 2018, I programme public light art for audiences of over 100,000 per edition, with artists like Luke Jerram and Leonid Tishkov.
From astronomy to art
I started in astronomy olympiads and ended up sculpting with light. Curiosity is still the engine — 40+ light festivals documented across 15 countries and counting.