Project

Once you witness the Northern Lights it’s hard to forget them. I decided to take advantage of a current fashion trend by incorporating Neopixels within a cowl. This project was really an investigation of muting the pixels and using layering and reflection to create the mystical look. I started by choosing materials for the cowl that would create a dark sky with light cloud cover. So, black faux fur is the lining with a layer of white silk and white fur covered with stretch black mesh. The lights create random swirls in the green, purple and gold that I viewed in Iceland. Note that other areas of the world experience a similar phenomena, but the colors may be different based on the gases in the atmosphere. I reviewed a ton of Iceland video clips to get the best color choices for my piece. More about the construction here.

Future Possibilities

As I’m always trying to create a stronger connection to nature, I really like the idea of actually improving this piece with a sensor for a specific gas or pollen. This could be helpful for people with chemical sensitivities or allergies.