That handsome, lean, t-shirted and goateed man manipulating molten glass into the stunning Infinity Pendant at johnpomp.com is not Johnny Depp, but rather maestro John Pomp of John Pomp studios. The Philadelphia-based artisan and artist specializes in blown glass and lighting—two of my favorite disciplines—and one can see the synergy between the two in the oddly enticing Infinity.

Infinity Pendant Lamp. Designed and Manufactured by John Pomp.

The Beguiling Iridescence of the Infinity Pendant Lamp

At a first casual glance something may seem askew with Infinity, as it displays not the symmetrical refinements of much bespoke lighting, but rather the liquid oscillations of glass in its primordial state. This belies the typical associations between finished glass and hard lines/clean edges. With Infinity, that’s a welcome change.

The piece celebrates the formative processes of blowing glass, as it suspends this perceived liminal state in an iridescent permanence evoking surrealist art. One only need consult Dalí’s famed “The Persistence of Memory” to know whereof I speak.

But Infinity is not only a philosophical statement regarding our preconceptions of certain materials, it’s also a functional lightpiece that makes an especially dramatic statement, no matter where it’s hung. Even so, my preference would be for a trio of Infinities deliciously dangling above an expansive kitchen table (the Purple Heart Table would do nicely here). Or perhaps a phosphorescent cluster of Infinities in the darkly cavernous lobby of a beachside hotel, where they’d evoke the exotic life forms that inhabit the murky depths—many of which are strangely luminescent in their own right.

Via InteriorDesign.

About the Designer: Designer, artist, and artisan John Pomp is the founder and principal of John Pomp Studios, which recently re-located to Philadelphia after several years in NYC. Educated in the art of Venetian glass blowing by maestros from Murano, Pomp is known for his exquisite blown glass lighting fixtures. But the move to the City of Brotherly Love has inspired an homage of sorts, as Pomp’s latest line is “a new furniture, lighting, and accessories collection created primarily from steel, that was inspired by his personal history and ties to his home town.”