My team at Looking Up Arts was invited to create a ceremonial torch for the processional leading up to the lighting of Illuminate’s WELCOME, a rainbow laser installation on San Francisco’s Market Street as a part of pride events.
After working on Pink Torch in 2020 I drew up some sketches for another torch.
The original conical design of the handle.
The eight sided geometry was inspired by Gilbert Baker’s original eight color rainbow flag that eventually evolved into the well known six color flag.
I had know for years that the original flag was eight colors, but when researching the history, I found it really interesting to see that it had multiple iterations along the way. With Gilbert Baker even designing another version as recently 2017, which lead to me seeing the flag as much more of a living document.
I wanted the LED lens which takes the position to be starkly different from the highly symmetrical nature of the handle, so I looked to nature, trying to create a crystalline gem-like structure.
I started printing full parts with the intention of casting and learned two things about this design 1) It was huge and 2) the linear transition of the shape made it very hard to grip in the middle. It was very hard to find a middle ground where it wasn’t too wide, too skinny, or too angled to hold comfortably, so I decided to do a redesign.
This design was a lot smoother, with to some subtle soft angles, with a natural taper in the center which made it much easier to hold. We cast in aluminum to make sure it stayed light.
I ended up 3D printing the entire sprue and gate system except for the pour cup and a small vent to the pour cup on top. I aggressively patched every possible intrusion point with microcrystalline wax and dipped every accessible part in wax as well. I did an excessive number of coats of shellac and began dipping the ceramic shell.
As the handle had gone from all hard lines to some soft subtle curves, I decided to pivot from the crystal formation, to something with more of a geometric shape. After many iterations of flames, I had the idea of trying to apply some angles to the Progress Pride Flag to abstract it a little bit. For my this was an exciting way to connect the flame with the theme of the handle and tie in the concept of the Pride Flag as a living document.
Fonda did an amazing paint job and finishing details on the aluminum–this really made the whole sculpture come alive. They turned out gorgeous. The entire process was significantly more challenging than expected, but that certainly made it more rewarding to see them go off into the world. It’s been almost exactly three years since I made the Pink Torch, with the entirety of my grad school education in between, so it felt meaningful that so much of what I spent my time on during school was used during this process. The LED portion of this project was another adventure all its own with a lot of love and labor from a whole other group of amazing people.
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