Light Sleeper Studio

Working across multiple disciplines, Light Sleeper Studio is the creative practice of Issy Stephens. As a Creative Practitioner in Collaborative Change, Issy works collaboratively across illustration, filmmaking, writing, research and facilitation to produce human centred action-oriented projects where the process is just as vital as the outcome.

Whether painting community-designed murals, illustrating educational toolkits, teaching in universities or writing collaborative manifestos, Issy approaches all of her work with a deep passion for change, and a strong resistance to being boxed in. Over the years, she has worked across multiple sectors and with many different communities of identity, guided by frameworks and principles of transparency, intersectionality, radical thinking, and purposeful action.

The name Light Sleeper Studio has followed Issy since her high school days, when she was making feminist sculptures and studying philosophy and ethics, already convinced there were more ways to connect the arts and social sciences than she was being shown. Light Sleeper because she worries; Studio because she channels that energy to create change. Her work is a response to her ideas about the world, grounded in the belief that the path to collective liberation is through collective action.

Issy is currently undertaking a PhD Studentship at the University of Exeter (Cornwall), researching the politics of representation in democratic innovations in rural communities. She is also a Clore Fellow, currently taking part in the Emerging Leader programme for social leaders in Cornwall.

Issy is open to work – particularly in illustration and mural commissions – as well as interdisciplinary collaborations that align with her values and focus on meaningful, action-based initiatives. Light Sleeper Studio is covered by Professional Indemnity Insurance, Public Liability Insurance and can be employed on a Freelance basis. Please head on over to the ‘Let’s Collaborate‘ page to get the conversation started!