Marcus V De Paula

For the past fifteen years, Marcus Vinicius De Paula has been working with light across several mediums including film, theater, and live performances. The designer’s work references science fiction and evokes relics from faraway places. Perhaps that, in conjunction to his father’s work as a NASA engineer, are the inspiration for the beauty the designer creates today.

The Brooklyn-based lighting designer currently works in stone, neon, resin, and glass. However it is his signature “lines of light” for which he is most recognized. The lights’ graceful presence magnificently warms up seemingly cold and stark environments.

With an extremely high degree for precision and craftsmanship, De Paula’s elegant creations suggest a reflection upon (courtesy of the designer’s web site), “humanity’s own fragility and what might be left of our world.”

Originally from Brazil, the designer spent the early parts of the pandemic on a cross-country road trip (courtesy of Surface Magazine), “in order to radically reimagine his functional art practice, which sees him meld ethereal neon tubes with stone monoliths reminiscent of the Brutalist architecture found throughout his native Brazil.”

Upon his return, he put his newfound perspective into motion… the result was a series of mysterious light sculptures in a range of natural materials including granite, resin, and volcanic rock. Along with his wife, De Paula traveled via cargo trailer and canopy to Maine, the northern California coast, and the Utah desert.

The same long roadtrip resulted in some smaller pieces designed from lava rock found on the ground in Utah. Uniquely shaped, the light is a “practice of restraint.” Called “Vesta,” the linear light is a contrast to the jagged edges surrounding it.

This much is clear, “With stone, there is no undo, no painting over, no trying again with a unique shape of material such as this. The exercise is to know when to stop, and when less is more.” Regardless… beautiful work!