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very action, thought and imagining — as energy — leaves a record, a trail of its existence, its expansion over time and its intertwining with every other action, thought and imagining.

With an inward vision, if we allow ourselves to explore what this observed light and color might look like, the act (and art) of sharing our work, our passions, our dreams takes on an entirely new form.

I see the possibilities for Light Painting everywhere, which keeps me up most nights dreaming of ways to introduce the technique to a greater audience of other artists, content creators and performers, athletes, academics and entrepreneurs, organizations and institutions, adventurers, students and children of all ages.

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t seems pre-destined that I would use light as my medium and the darkness as my canvas. Born a first generation Polish American, my surname Wilczynski derives from the word wilk meaning “wolf”. And the Slavic and Greek origins for Alina mean “light.” The lead character, Alina in the fantasy-adventure novel and TV series, Shadow and Bone, comes to realize she possesses a superpower, the ability to summon light!

I will never forget my first feeling of awe for photography at the age of seven when my brother and I crafted a pinhole camera out of a cereal box, lots of black duct tape and an expired roll of film found in the back of drawer. After taking my first photography class in college with an SLR I borrowed from her sister, I took over the basement of my family home for a makeshift darkroom created with hand-me-down equipment from a cousin. Self-confessed night owl, I would spend countless hours experimenting with my favorite camera technique… Light Painting in the dark.

After college, I shifted my career focus to commercial art, design and photography, becoming a founding partner in a boutique design agency in Northern NJ.

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hroughout my commercial career, I’ve continued exhibiting work in galleries throughout the NYC-Metro area including SUNY Utica Gallery, Bethune Gallery (NYC), Leslie Lohman Gallery (NYC), and others. A featured solo exhibit at The NYC LGBT Center spanned several rooms over two floors as one of several in a series of Pride Month exhibits presented throughout Manhattan by The New York Public Library.

In recent years however, I reconnected with my first love of Light Painting. And it started with a question — a wish of sorts. How could I use art to help others feel the energy, the living history and the cultural significance of historical places, people and things in order to encourage community-driven efforts to save them? This self-challenge in combination with realizing the unlimited potential of using new and newly accessible forms of light and light-sensitive technology has put me on an unexpected journey of exploration with the technique once more.

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t was through Light Painting that I was invited to become an Adjunct Professor of Photography at Farmingdale State College (SUNY), as well as lead workshops and immersive Light Painting demonstrations. View the Events page for examples.

In 2023-2024, and again for 2024-2025, I was accepted into the Patchogue Arts Council PEACE (Partners in Education, Arts, & Community Empowerment) Project which is funded by the US Department of Education and partners with Eastern Suffolk BOCES in order to bring educators, artists and cultural partners together to foster college- and career-readiness, civic engagement, DEI and social-emotional learning through the arts.

An aspect of showing and teaching this work that has been the most fascinating thing for me to observe, is that viewers understand on a very deep level that they are getting an insider’s view of something. Most of what I am seeing in this medium is abstraction, which I love doing as well, but what drives my exploratory work is a desire to tap into what passion, wonderment and inspiration feel like, look like… in light + color + movement.

COMMERCIAL WORK

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ver the course of 25+ years in the commercial arts realm, I’ve designed, photographed and/or directed campaigns for clients — corporate to mom & pop, non-profits to municipalities to cabaret singers — including M&M/Mars, Robin Hood Foundation, Queens Council on the Arts, LOGO Channel, Sierra Club, Town of Southampton, Costume Designer Eric Winterling, Tony-Award Winning Sound Designer Clive Goodwin and Plus-Size Model Emme.

I’ve also organized and/or photographed events featuring entrepreneurs and executives, filmmakers and playwrights, authors, artists and athletes at venues big and small, including MoMA, Asia Society & Museum, American Folk Art Museum and various galleries, boardrooms and backyards.