Daniel Shields Light Installation

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Daniel Shields is a Kentucky-based installation artist currently living outside of Cincinnati, Ohio who has used soft yarn to create immersive pieces that cover or enclose large outdoor areas since 2014, but who has only taken art seriously since 2019. Typically, his creations are, at their core, public art which manipulates innate perception of well-known locations in largely unconscious ways by segmenting and dividing 3D space with simple, sparse lines. Most installations use fluorescent acrylic yarn with UV light and UV lasers to create vibrant effects that trick the senses. Some woven installations are visitor-created, where yarn balls are provided and anyone can add their own elements, creating a truly democratic experience where signs read “please touch the art.” Like people and the relationships between them, yarn is seemingly fragile but can be stretched thin and made to endure a tremendous amount of stress without breaking – but there is a limit to everything, and strength in numbers.