The Rocks lamp from the Shine exhibition at the 2026 NYCxDesign Festival embodies biophilic design. The Dark Star Lamp is yet another member doing the same. Designed by Mary Gattorna, the lamp is a one-of-a-kind piece that blends ceramic and glass through a hand-built process. The Dark Star lamp is inspired by rocks, mountains, crystals, and gemstones, and has a fantastical presence.
The piece achieves its distinct look through a specialized process called glass-on-ceramic fusion. The artist first shapes and fires the raw ceramic clay body; then the glass shards are placed directly onto the surface.
Refired at a high temperature, the heat melts the glass that causes it to pool and fuse permanently into the clay’s cervices. The final object pairs rough, earthy ceramic with smooth, glossy glass.
The molten glass creates unpredictable, crackled, and gemstone-like crystalline pods. When illuminated, the translucent glass sections catch and refract light differently from the opaque clay.
In the case of this lamp, I planned the colors of the glazes, but I applied them without a specific end in mind; instead I just followed what I felt was best. The same consideration went into the glass crystals: I chose which colors I wanted to fire, but the shaping of each crystal was guided almost entirely by intuition. When assembling these works, I also go by feeling, and attach each crystal individually without a layout of the final piece
– Mary Gattorna
The piece feels straight out of a movie where the witches rule; the gemstones looking like part of a quirky tiara or crown. The lighting mechanism has an option of fading between a rainbow of colors for an even more mesmerizing effect.
Working as both a luminaire and a sculptural piece, the lamp does justice to the designer’s love for rocks and gems. The final result is an object that you would take to a séance, the exact vibe Gattorna was going for.
