Main Project Aesthetics: Naturalism and Opposition

The inspiration for my aesthetic came from a short reflection I had while sitting in my desk chair. During junior year, one of my friends went abroad and lent me a lamp. The lamp had the shape of a gourd and featured ornate designs etched into the clay-like material that made up the base. The lampshade had a vintage, coarse, twilled texture. This lamp provided a familiar and warm orange lighting with a brightness that perfectly complemented the other lamp I had placed in the opposing corner of the room. Alas, the perfect light harmony of the room could not last forever. She returned from abroad and retrieved her lamp, leaving me with an imperfect light balance that has existed since last year. Finally, I now have a reason to fill the corner devoid of light. So, I decided to make a lamp for this project.

While I could have tried to imitate the ornate pottery-style lamp that had previously existed there, I decided I wanted to keep the important elements but change the persona the lamp held. One crucial aspect was the color. The earthy brown of the lamp’s base and the hay-colored lampshade worked extremely well in my room. My desk, nightstand, and dresser are all made of dark brown wood. I have decorated the room with posters, including the album cover from Animals by Pink Floyd, along with other pieces that contribute to the color palette. While the color scheme was great, the look of the lamp itself was something I wanted to change. Instead of the vintage aesthetic—something likely to be seen in someone’s grandma’s house (nothing wrong with that; I loved the lamp)—I wanted it to be more timeless, more sleek.

So, I thought: what is something that is timeless yet ever-changing? Nature. For my last project, I also focused on the harmony between my product and nature, and I will be using the same naturalist aesthetic for this one. However, here it will take a slightly different form. Naturalism seeks to artistically depict nature as it exists—no alterations, no exaggerated additions, just a design inspired by what you see or feel. This could take two directions as I consider how to create my design.

The most apparent approach would be to make a lamp out of natural materials, using wood or rocks to create a piece made directly from nature. I could even use something like pigskin or another thin, durable material to create a lampshade if I wanted to take it that far.

The other direction I could take is designing the lamp to resemble something in nature. One particularly inspiring idea is a mushroom lamp. I think a mushroom-shaped lamp would look amazing and fit in well with the earthy brown tones in my room.

But what if I did something completely out of the ordinary—something that contrasts with the colors and general aesthetic of my space? A few ideas come to mind.

Steampunk lamps. While the colors in this picture are actually quite similar to my room’s palette and would fit well, the lamp itself would feel a bit jarring. Steampunk aesthetics tend to be gritty, metallic, and industrial—almost the opposite of the look I’m aiming for with this project.

Another vastly different aesthetic would be colorful maximalism—using fishbowls or lava lamps for the base and incorporating extravagant, frilly lampshades. Admittedly, I think this would be a fun direction to take, but it would completely throw off the feng shui of my room. If I were to go in this direction, though, I would fully commit. I’d use pearl beads for the lampshade pull, and I would hang cheap jewelry from the shade so that each bead or gem could reflect the light, creating small twinkling reflections around the room.

Despite these considerations, I still think I am going with the naturalist aesthetic.

Sources:

Figure 1: Naturalism in Art

My Modern Met. (n.d.). Exploring the naturalism movement in art. My Modern Met. Retrieved February 6, 2025, from https://mymodernmet.com/naturalism-movment/

Figure 2: bamboo lamp
https://www.selency.nl/c/lighting/table-lamp/bedside-lamp-and-table-lamp?materialTitle=zinc~bronze~rattan%20and%20wicker&sortBy=PRODUCTS_EN_BS2&page=16

Figure 3: Mushroom lamp
https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/reverse-table-lamp

Figure 4: Steampunk lamp

Figure 5: Maximalist Lamp
Maximalist Lights