Case study: Heat Creatures by Karenza Sparks

Overview
Heat Creatures was the first Regen Art Lab residency, launched in autumn 2021 to explore how creative practice could open up difficult, technical conversations—starting with the decarbonisation of home heating. Artist Karenza Sparks developed a collection of imaginative “creature” characters representing heating technologies such as boilers, heat pumps, and thermal stores. These took the form of trading cards, hand-crafted figurines, and zine-style materials that translated the complexity and technical nature of space heating technologies into curiosity, care and fun.

Concept and Approach
Heating our homes is a personal and emotional issue—but often talked about in dry, technical terms. Karenza worked closely with Regen’s experts and community energy contacts to better understand the technical landscape of heat pumps, biomethane and hydrogen and explored how to communicate these consumer choices in an entirely different way. The project was deliberately collaborative, not commissioned, ensuring space for an authentic artistic journey.

Over 10 weeks, Karenza created:

• 11 illustrated character cards (the Heat Creatures)

• 3D models of each creature

• A launch event and exhibition in the Sustainability Hub at The University of Plymouth

• A printed zine capturing the project’s creative process and findings

The playful medium, grounded in deep research, brought warmth and imagination to a subject often characterised by technical jargon, mixed messaging and inaccessibility.

Outcomes and Impact
The project delivered impact across multiple levels:

• Sector innovation: Regen used the project to engage staff and stakeholders in a new way, shifting how energy professionals thoughts about public engagement and communicating technical energy topic areas.

Find out more about Karenza'a work:

Website: https://karenza.neocities.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xarenzah/