Ryan Paonessa

In 1951, after a visit to Gifu, Japan, a town known for manufacturing lanterns and umbrellas, Isamu Noguchi began producing handcrafted, collapsable lamps. Following the Gifu tradition, the lamps were made using bamboo ribbing and washi paper from the inner bark of the mulberry tree. Noguchi called these works Akari, a term meaning light as illumination, but also implying the idea of weightlessness. I was lucky enough to pick up one of these amazing pieces — the Akari 3X — from the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, Queens on a trip up to New York last year. Check out some my photos from the museum here.

Learn more at about Isamu Noguchi, the museum, and Akari light sculptures at noguchi.org