In my course Design Studio 1, each student chose a specific insect to inform their work for the rest of the semester. I chose the dragonfly commonly known as ‘The Wandering Glider,’ or Pantala Flavescens. I was particularly intrigued by the form of their ommatidia, which is a hexagonal unit that makes up the structure of their eye. Through the medium of kirigami, which is a type of paper cutting, I was able to transform the ommatidia into an abstract 3-D form. Knowing these kirigami models would inform a lamp we were tasked to create later, I used cyanotype to translate the paper model into a piece of art while learning more about how light interacts with my designs. Finally, I created three iterations of a pendant lamp, all directly inspired by ‘The Wandering Glider.’ My lamp was created out of homemade watercolor paper I bought from a local art store, museum board, glue, wire and lots of time in the lasercutting lab. Using Rhinoceros 3-D, I was also able to model my lamp.