Moving beyond flat backgrounds, I experimented with layering the moiré patterns over a salt lamp to explore how texture and light could create a softer, more organic quality.
Pattern #4 & 1 on salt lamp
Reflections & learning
The warm orange glow through the textured surface creates a really organic, almost molten quality. The salt lamp works because it’s translucent with internal light – I imagine that anything that diffuses light similarly will work well.
However, reflecting on this, my instinct is to go further by cutting layers directly into the material itself, almost like a relief map. This would create actual 3D relief rather than just visual illusion – taking the work from purely optical into a sculpture.
What this could look like:
- Concentric rings cut at different depths into salt, wax, or plaster
- Each ring at a slightly different height, creating actual topographic relief
- Light could cast real shadows between the levels
- The moiré effect happening both optically (through the acetate overlay) and physically (through the relief)
This feels like an interest potential evolution – from flat optical illusion to sculptural object that engages viewers on multiple levels.
