Autumn de Wilde showcases Escalade in artistic light

Cadillac today revealed the all-new 2015 Escalade luxury SUV along with a series of photographs by indie artist Autumn de Wilde. The photographs focus on the play of light on the vehicle’s design and house-shaped sculptures de Wilde designed. Inspired by minimalistic art and design, de Wilde designed a set of seven-foot-wide and 12-foot-tall, semi-opaque, sculptures modeled after the simple and traditional house form. Similar to how perception of the Escalade’s design changes as light hits it, de Wilde’s Plexiglas-and-mirror houses replicate the effect. “I see the landscape reflected in a curved part of the car. It’s reflecting the landscape in a really beautiful way but also distorted in a very surreal way,” de Wilde said. “In my work, I’ve used reflection a lot, and I’m definitely obsessed with light, and very obsessed with the use of light for storytelling.” Both the 2015 Escalade and de Wilde’s sculptures stand in stark contrast to the surrounding landscape of Tejon Ranch in Lebec, Calif. The installation draws the eye, as de Wilde explains, “I thought it would be very cool to have the story really be about someone who was seeing the way their car changed in that landscape… because of the light and because of the colors. “I’ve always been obsessed with mirrors and colored Plexiglas and jewels and crystals and prisms. Ever since I was a little girl, I was fascinated with how they play in the light,”  de Wilde said. “I was totally fascinated by the design and the pieces of the headlamp. On their own, they were especially beautiful. In trying to do something a little different, I wanted to figure out how to exaggerate the feeling you would get when you go up to the sculptures in the car.” The photographer’s eye for emotion fits Cadillac’s provocative design statement. Her vivid portraiture gives her the perfect lens with which to capture the 2015 Cadillac Escalade from an artistic perspective as opposed to traditional automotive photography. Says de Wilde, “As a photographer, I am searching for those iconic portraits that makes you wish you were there. I am always searching.” Source: GM