Lacrimosa Pendant Light Story
The primary ethos behind my lacrimosa pendant light design is one I strive to follow now with all my designs. I intentionally designed this to be very difficult to mass produce. The form itself is essentially a tear drop that has been stretched and twisted. Completely asymmetric. Its difficult to make in a mould or by any other traditional production technique that I m aware of.
I've been asked so many times 'how is it made?' and 'isn't it very fragile?' So I thought I'd expand upon the product description and tell the story behind it. I had played around with 3D printed lampshades a few years beforehand when I need some over my dining table after some renovations. I ended up with a very simple form which looked slightly moorish in style. It hid the light source very well and created a soft but reasonably focused light which was exactly what I wanted. However it wasn't unique, the simple form could easily be churned out in China and the finish wasn't very luxurious (it was just as it came off the 3D printer). Here's a picture of the pendants I'm talking about.
I wanted to make these pendants really special. It occurred to me I wasn't fully exploiting the freedom the 3D printer had to offer. I took the original form and twisted it and stretched it so the lip of the shade undulated and the form became completely asymmetrical. I knew this would be next to impossible to produce with traditional mass production processes used in pendant and lampshade manufacture. So I had a form I loved and one that was truly unique but I was still stuck with the printed finish. Personally I quite like the layers of the 3d print. It's not a luxurious or tactile finish though. I wanted something that complemented the form, felt really inviting to the touch and was 'super matte'. Id seen some concrete dipped lampshades on Pinterest which I liked, but the concrete always had to be a certain thickness and gave quite an industrial look. This wasn't right for such a delicate form. I wondered If it could be done in plaster and began experimenting. Here are a few photos of the shades after dipping/pre-sanding.
It turned out that dipping in plaster was really quite difficult in terms of the finished structural integrity. I actually gave up on this product for 6 months. I just couldn't get the formula right for a plaster which wasn't too fragile with such a thin wall. I must have broken dozens of prototypes. I experimented with lots of different plaster types and other materials before I got to the final formula. Additionally, the temperature and working time are critical. I also devised a rotation machine to keep the plaster even and reduce he amount I had to sand back by hand!
I make these bespoke pendant lights in a wide variety of colours and finishes to order. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch If you have any questions about a custom order!
