Paris-based Palestinian designer Samer Selbak has created a collection of lighting made from the luffa plant dyed with vegetables.
Named Luffa, the collection includes two pendant lights and a space divider, that were crafted from naturally dyed luffa, steel and cellulose paper.
The Luffa collection features the Saffeer pendant light
Luffa, which has traditional uses both as a bathing sponge and in cooking, has natural tones of beige. For the collection, Selbak dyed the luffa with vegetables including red cabbage, onion skin and avocado skin to create muted colours of brown, pink and blue.
"The dyeing process is magical and very surprising, changing one detail leads to different results, which I find much more interesting than industrial dyes," he said. The lights were designed to be suspended at different angles
The material was then heat-compressed and folded into its desired shape, before being sewn together in its final form.
The Saffeer pendant light hangs diagonally, structured with an inner steel body and cased in the luffa pattern to create a tubular shape.
Selbak also created the Nafaq pendant light for the collection, which takes a similar form, while horizontally suspended.
They display luffa's coral-like texture
When illuminated, the lights emphasise textures and patterns of the luffa, following the designer's intentions for them to create a "sub-aquatic mystical presence".
"Using the luffa as a material for a luminary object creates a d...