Heidi Luker

 Creative Arts Practitioner, Sculptural Artist and Costume & Set Designer 

I’m motivated by the challenge to create vehicles that explore & interpret heritage, social issues/themes & untold stories.

I studied sculpture and later theatre design at Nottingham Trent University and design/deliver public participation art projects, from site-specific sculptural installations, fun community engagement creative workshops with all ages and abilities and design performance events. including lead designer/costume coordinator for This is Derby Outside Celebration and Community Procession. 2019, with Walk the Plank/Derby Community Trust.

I have recently been successful in Arts Council England/National Lottery funding, to work collaboratively with artist Lise Bennett, on an Research & Development Project, Ambergate Wireworks – They Part They Played. A co-production with Derby Museum of Making, it explores through an immersive sculptural installation and a soundscape of recorded interviews, the impact their manufactured wire had on communication technology, war fare and engineering.

This follows two heritage commissions by Beam and Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Sites, as part of the Creative Great Places Scheme, funded by Arts Council England & The National Heritage Lottery, first with pop-up event, Through the Keyhole and during Lockdown, The London Mothers for which I researched, scripted, produced & directed , a short play exploring the hidden heritage of Willerlsey Castle, Cromford as a WW2 maternity unit, inspired by interviews with ‘Willersley Babies’ and nursing staff, online archives and original photos. I also designed the set and visuals created by editing together, original 1940’s black and white photographs with filmed locations to form the background projections. The play was filmed on stage at Derby Theatre Studio in partnership with Derby University and available on YouTube.

As a costume designer/sculptural artist, I’m a long-term collaborator with African/Contemporary company, Keneish Dance and exploring Jamaican cultural heritage through Xaymaca with Birmingham Museums. Recent work with other companies includes design commission, Sonic Lullaby Cradle for Manasamitra, which premiered at Sage, and I am currently creating costumes and set for R & D dance productions, Forest of Dreams with Indian Kuchipudi choreographer/dancer, Payal Ramchandani that looks at de-forestation in India as well as women’s mental health in Just Enough Madness.