Ever walked into a bakery, surrounded by the aroma of freshly baked bread, croissants, cakes and coffee, and thought to yourself if there’s a heaven, this is it? This is exactly what happened with Yukiko Morita, the maker of Pampshade bread lamps, when she walked into a bakery where she was to start working.
I felt so excited and smiled.
For you and me, bread might be just bread. For Morita, bread is her passion; it holds unlimited potential that’s waiting to be tapped. When she saw unsold pieces of bread and baked goods being discarded every day, she was deeply affected. To see something that you profoundly appreciate being thrown away every day is not easy. So, determined to make a change and save bread, Morita turned from a baker into a versatile artist, turning pieces of bread into bread lamps!
In the beginning, Morita partnered with a local baker from whom she would collect unsold pieces of bread at the end of the day. The sustainable change is now growing exponentially as the number of bakers she partners with increases. Once she has the bread, she uses an antiseptic and mildew-deterrent to keep it free of possible fungi and unwanted growth. Then, she hollows out the insides of the baked goods – with motor skills almost comparable to a surgeon’s – and inserts a series of LED lights.
She then proceeds to piece this together with a final coating of epoxy resin to make sure the bread never does go ‘bad’. It is needless to say that being made of bread, the bread lamps are fragile and you must not drop them. A gentle reminder also that these lamps aren’t edible, no matter how magically delicious they might look.
Morita has used slices of bread loaves, delectable croissants, baguettes, rolls and every imaginable baked good. The dingy lamps offer a serene ambience – at the end of a busy day, what’s better than a cup of tea or coffee and a beautiful, beautiful croissant?
You’ll also like reading about the Japanese artist who turns discarded Amazon boxes into cardboard sculptures.
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