Snapshot : WaterFire Illumination
When Andrew Lindsay breathes fire , people pay attention . “ You ’ re throwing up light and moving shadows and it draws the eye . It invites people to watch to see what ’ s going to happen ,” he says . Lindsay , a former art student who performs under the name Andrew Insect , was working in a dental lab sculpting teeth when he discovered his passion for fire performance . Now he is one of several artists who perform regularly at WaterFire , where the light from his breath mingles with the flaming braziers floating atop the Woonasquatucket River . “ There ’ s an elemental aspect to it ,” he says . “ I don ’ t mean in the firewith-water sense — I mean in the nature sense . Because you ’ re outside 90 percent of the time . You ’ ve got the winds and the temperature . It ’ s an amount of fire that you don ’ t really encounter in other places , and it ’ s kind of doing its own thing .” Fire performers have been a part of WaterFire since the 1990s , when an artist named Spogga became the first to dazzle audiences in Waterplace Park . For Liz Knights , a performer and owner of Cirque de Light entertainment company who coordinates the event ’ s fire performances , WaterFire offers a platform for artists to share their craft with a new audience . “ It ’ s a very sensory experience ,” she says . “ It ’ s very romantic , and it kind of feels like the perfect place for us to be .” The first Water- Fire lighting of the summer season takes place on Saturday , June 4 . — LAUREN CLEM
104 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JUNE 2022