Paradise by Lindsey Adelman

For centuries, glassblowers on the island of Murano passed down their expertise strictly through the generations, keeping their magic to themselves. But in recent years, thankfully, those master craftsmen have come to embrace and be embraced by a young wave of American glass artisans eager to reinterpret history. Such a joyous exchange was among the inspirations for Paradise, a sprawling sculptural cascade of textured globes on a network of large-link brass chains that drape as gracefully as a necklace.

Throughout, opaque and translucent cones, cylinders, spheres, and diamonds poke out at vertiginous angles, and slender polished pins add an edge of dangerous glamour. Using an innovative, labor-intensive technique, textile artist Taryn Urushido crochets the electrical wires invisibly through heavy handmade brass chains, rendering Paradise’s subtle illumination even more miraculous. In addition to an array of standard models, small-scale pendants, and sconces, Paradise was designed to be endlessly customizable: it can twist and torrent down the well of an open circular staircase or dangle endlessly across the ceiling.

American lighting designer Lindsey Adelman has long been obsessed with illumination in all its forms. Her work treads the porous border between sculpture and design, taking inspiration from such diverse sources as Eva Hesse's Rope sculptures, the pattern, colors, and bodily ornamentation of The Maasai, and the films of David Lynch. Combining organic handwrought materials like blown glass with the strong industrial beauty of machine-milled components, her lighting systems create radiant warmth while underscoring the drama of shadows and emptiness. Her Studio in New York City, founded in 2006, designs, prototypes, and builds in-house, working with a close circle of local manufacturers to develop and produce custom parts.