Crystallized Grief
This project reflects on death by using crystals as a profound metaphor for grief. These table lamps are deeply inspired by Yudeung Chukje, a Korean floating lantern festival rooted in Buddhist tradition that beautifully honors the souls of the departed, casting a warm, consoling glow into the dark.
When a loved one is lost, the initial pain can feel overwhelming. Yet, as that sorrow slowly softens, it often brings a sense of guilt, as if the fading of grief equates to the fading of memory itself. These lamps reframe this emotional shift as a natural, beautiful transformation. Much like a crystal that grows layer by layer into an unexpected form of beauty, grief too can crystallize into something enduring.
Imagined as luminous shelters for souls, crystals grow on 3D-printed wireframe structures. The contrast between precise digital frames and unpredictable crystal growth creates a unique interplay of light, making each piece entirely one of a kind. More than mere memorials, these lamps symbolise how sadness and dissolving memories can evolve into a new state of beauty, keeping a lingering presence vibrantly alive through absence.
