A Glow in the Dark

Creating the world's first 2.5D Divine Mercy acrylic lamp

When I created the Divine Mercy 2.5D edge-lit acrylic lamp, little did I know that I was creating the world's first Divine Mercy with rays that could be lighted. I was just tinkering around with two things that was challenging me at that time - engraving in 2.5D and working with edge-lit acrylic lamps.

That was in mid 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic had spread to many parts of the world. In order to stop the spread of the virus that had caused the pandemic, Malaysia was in lockdown and movement was restricted. All churches were closed to the public and no physical attendance was allowed.

In order to serve the worshipping community, online masses were conducted by various churches in the country.

It was during this time of searching for a worship encounter that I was attracted to the online mass broadcasted from the Church of the Divine Mercy, Penang. What attracted me most was the chaplet of the Divine Mercy which was sung just before the mass was started. Prior to this, I was meditating on my rosary using the standard Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries. I was not aware that there was a sung chaplet using the same rosary.

My curiousity aroused, I searched on the internet for more information relating to the Divine Mercy. I found out about Saint Faustina and her story, the messages, and how the painting of the Divine Mercy came about.

It was when I searched around everywhere for images of the Divine Mercy that I realized that all of them were either printed copies of paintings done on paper/canvas or 3D sculptures. The digital copies of these images were also duplicated from original paintings or were from newer versions of paintings. None of these could be rendered with depth, either in 3D or 2.5D.

At this point, let me explain a bit about the difference between 3D and 2.5D. A 3D image would be a sculpture where one could view an object from all around it. The expression 3D means that there is length, breadth, and height. A 2.5D object would be one where there is length, and breadth, but only half, therefore 0.5 of height. Normally a 2.5D object would be an object with a bit of depth, essentially a relief carving on a piece of material with some thickness.

I could find some Divine Mercy 3D statues. There are some well known churches with these statues. Because the statues are made of solid materials like stone, concrete, or wood, the rays that emit from them had to be depicted as solid structures. Indeed if there were some relief 2.5D solid carvings, they had to depict the rays as solid objects.

A few months prior to this, I had been developing all sorts of carving on wood, masonite and plastic. These included the more advanced 2.5D carvings on acrylic that could be made into edge-lit lamps. So the Divine Mercy image became my natural choice of a subject matter. Knowing how to create 2.5D carved images was one challenge. The other challenge was in making use of the LED lights to illuminate the rays in the image - something which could not be achieve previously in solid materials - but could be effectively done in an edge-lit acrylic lamp through internal reflections of light.

In order for the rays to be lighted red and blue, it was necessary to install both of these colored LED at their correct locations. This complicates the electrical circuits slightly, because the LEDs would have to be specially connected by hand.

With a bit of technical knowledge, I came out with a design to cut grooves and holes to accomodate the carved acrylic sheet, the LEDs, the resistors and the wiring for the circuits all within the solid wooden base of the lamp.

After many trials, I succeeded with a working model.

On reflecting back, I have to agree that surprisingly the Covid-19 lockdown did resulted in something wonderful for me! It's like seeing the light at the end of a tunnel. Indeed, it's a glow in the dark - creating the world's first 2.5D Divine Mercy Image with real lighted rays.

Footnote: We are constantly solving problems and improving on the fabrication process. Some of the early days descriptions above might not be applicable now.