All Photos By Gail

On the lookout for cool Pink Things at the ICFF, we spotted this ‘illuminating’ design by UIC student Maria Diamond. Emby, a bud-shaped sculptural lamp, is made from fluorescent pink sheets of acrylic. This type of acrylic is unique in that it has colored edges that have a natural glow to them. Its light source — an LED puck light that is also covered by acrylic — was placed to shine downwards into the acrylic, forcing it to refract through the curves and the etched contours of this organic form. Inspired by the form of a flower, the acrylic was heated and shaped in a way that best-defined the edges, to create a rosy glowing lamp. Stunning!

I contacted Maria via email, and she provided additional background on the piece:

“The project brief was to select a material from a list given to us as students, and then come up with a house good that best exemplifies the properties of that material. In my case, what is unique about acrylic is that some [types] have colored edges that have an inherent glow. Acrylic is also a thermoplastic, so I laser cut a flower-inspired shape from the sheet of acrylic and cooked it in my oven, which allowed me to bend the petals upward, as I wanted to highlight the petals’ edges.”

The designer continues, “I thought it was interesting to have the puck light be its own piece, because most people would assume the central placement of a light would shine up and out of a form. Instead, I did the opposite; that, when turned on, the source of light providing the natural glow from the edges is questioned. Maria is selling this design for $180 and is open to making additional lamps in different colors. You can contact her by leaving a message in comment section!