CRAFT, CURIOSITY, AND EXPLORATION – DAEDALIC LIGHTWORKS
Just outside Matakana, where farmland folds into a canopy of bush and birdsong, sits a workshop that feels more like a creative observatory than a studio. This is Daedalic Lightworks – and at the heart of it is local maker Mark Lever.
Mark comes from a long line of people who built things. Tools were handled with respect, materials were never wasted, and creativity was guided by hands, heart, instincts, and imagination. Long before Daedalic Lightworks existed, he was already experimenting: drawing, shaping, making, pushing materials to see how far they could be taken. His early career as a stills photographer and director honed a quiet obsession with detail – the angle of illumination, the way objects warm once lit, and the interplay between shadow and light.
This sensitivity and awareness comes through in everything Daedalic Lightworks produces. Mark works with circular, regenerative, and repurposed materials many people overlook: river-salvaged tōtara, coffee grounds, pumice, oyster shells, brass, and aluminium. His goal is to coax something honest and beautiful from them – not as novelty, but as functional, enduring design.
“It’s the materials that tell you what they want to be,” Mark says. “You try something, it changes, and you follow it. That’s the fun part.”
Today, Daedalic Lightworks creates architectural hardware, lighting, and small- purpose accessories. The Tōka range of blackened-brass handles and pulls – solid, elemental, tactile – is Mark’s answer to the mass-produced fittings that dominate the market. Each piece is shaped, finished, and polished by hand, carrying the unmistakable signature of a maker who values process as much as outcome.
Lighting is approached with the same intentionality. Much of Mark’s current exploration revolves around outdoor design that's friendly to wildlife and dark skies – lighting that respects the natural rhythms of the environment rather than overpowering them. “Light should shape a space, not shout at it,” he says.
While Daedalic Lightworks offers a growing catalogue, bespoke work remains a cornerstone of the studio. Mark has crafted everything from Japanese-style Ofuro tubs to one-off tables, BBQs, braziers, firewood holders, and custom architectural pieces for homes throughout the region. “Clients bring an idea, a challenge, or a material with meaning, and it’s my job to help find the story and solution within it. I love that,” he says.
Matakana is more than just the workshop’s location; it’s part of its identity. Mark sources materials from local suppliers, collaborates with nearby craftspeople, and sees the studio as an extension of the region’s creative heartbeat. In a landscape full of makers, growers, and hands-on thinkers, Daedalic Lightworks feels right at home.
The studio is also part of Naked & Curious, a wider ecosystem of Aotearoa creatives crafting products for in, on, and around the most extraordinary homes, lodges, and public spaces. At its centre, though, Daedalic Lightworks remains Mark’s happy place – where curiosity, craft, and the belief that beauty can emerge from unexpected places continue to guide his work.
www.daedalic-lightworks.earth | mark@daedalic-lightworks.earth