Lithophane Flashlights

These are my version of the slipcast flashlight. Mine are translucent and have lithophanes at the end. I carved the image in wax first then made a mold of the wax so I could cast porcelain in the mold. I think they turned out well. I learned more about the process from doing these, but I still have a ways to go if I want to continue making lithophanes. I'm still trying to figure out what would be the best thing to do with them, but I think I am slowly getting there.

I had thought about just making a lithophane that I could stick in a preexisting flashlight, but conceptually I liked having a flashlight made out of clay. Although this is not a new idea, I like the thought of making a functional object out of clay that isn't traditionally made with this material. Function is a very prominent area in ceramics, but it tends to be pottery, so I wanted to comment on function and its relation to ceramics and other materials. I feel the juxtaposition of the historical lithophane with the modern flashlight adds to the interest. Lithophanes were made long before we had battery operated flashlights, so they were never made to be lit by such a device. From researching lithophanes, I would image if there had been flashlights, they would have made lithophanes for them. There is also contrast between the machine manufactured flashlight and my hand carved lithophane. I think this creates an interesting discussion between the two elements of the piece.