If you ever felt bad about throwing away pencil shavings and wished there was a way to immortalize them, Nanako Kume’s art will be your cup of tea. She specializes in creating quirky chandeliers that look just like giant pencil shavings.
Kume’s fascination with pencil shavings started at a young age, and she couldn’t let go of it even once she’s gotten older. She was always captivated by the shape and fragility of the shavings created with a sharpener, and she decided to find a way to recreate them.
“I thought that by increasing the size and thickness of what must be discarded as waste, it would be possible to create new products while maintaining the beauty of the shape,” she explained on Instagram.
Making chandeliers that look like pencil shavings wasn’t an easy job and it required special tools. Kume used a hand crank to make an enlarged sharpener, which can shave many times from a single piece of wood, just like the real one.
The process involved several steps, including whittling a piece of lumber into a hexagon, spray painting its exterior, and soaking the material in water. Each chandelier has a unique look, depending on the time of shaving and the species, color, and shape of the wood being used.
