The creator of our Ziggy Wingle room is Leeds-based artist and maker Alison Smith.

Alison creates immersive installations and spaces through interdisciplinary practice and using a wide range of materials and 3D processes.

She often works with light and recycled materials, making large sculptural light installations which are exhibited at festivals and events across the UK. Some pieces take inspiration from organic forms and biological processes, informed by collaborations with scientists, while some explore traditional craft processes, or the life cycles of materials and concepts of value.

Also working as an arts educator, working with local schools and families through her role as Engagement Curator at the Henry Moore Institute, Alison often combines her skills to develop socially engaged projects and participatory artwork.

In response to the theme of ‘Fun’, artist and maker Alison Smith has worked with pupils from local school Shakespeare Primary to design & produce this playful space. The children took inspiration from games, puzzles, toys and abstract paintings, learning about abstract shapes and how we interpret them through play and in art. The pupils experimented with shapes & patterns to create designs for a playable wall; a huge pegboard covered in colourful wooden shapes which can be moved around to make different designs. The children also designed a colour-changing neon light, and playful shelving with wooden games and houses. 

Alison has also worked with Leeds CIC Playful Anywhere for many years, taking playful, creative experiences to the streets and parks of West Yorkshire, and these experiences really informed this project. Alison was keen to create a ‘playable’ space, giving adults permission to play in a room inspired by the simple toys and puzzles of early childhood.