For my mock-up, I created a forced perspective model, similar to the one I’m aiming to have in my final shadowbox frame. I’ve landed on creating a mini version of James Turrell’s Skyspaces in a shadowbox frame that can be mounted on the wall. The mock-up includes a skylight, modeled with cloud-printed cardstock, and half-walls with a wood paneling texture. There’s a small lip/trim between the lower and upper walls—this is where I plan to install LED strips in the final version to diffuse light upward onto the upper white walls and ceiling planes.
I also plan to backlight the skylight so it glows like a bright, sunny sky. I’ve been playing with the idea of illuminating a parallelogram on the floor panel to mimic a beam of light being cast from the skylight. In the mock-up, this is represented with a small white piece of paper placed on the floor.
Creating this mock-up helped me figure out the scale and interior angles I’ll need to maintain the forced perspective effect within the constraints of a standard shadowbox frame. Next steps will involve testing lighting options and refining how I want the shadows and glow to interact.
Shopping List
- Shadowbox frame — final enclosure for mounting on the wall
- LED strip lights (white/warm dimmable) — for interior wall glow
- Frosted acrylic sheet — to diffuse light behind skylight
- Hot glue gun + glue sticks — for final assembly
- Better X-Acto knife
- Power adapter or battery pack — for lighting power source
- (Optional) Dimmer switch or microcontroller — for adjusting brightness
Your mockup came out really nice, your ideas come across really clear. I love the beam of light cast on the floor, I think it really adds to the depth of the piece. I am interested in seeing how you translate the depth into the shadow box.
Do you plan on using white light or warm light? Are you going to play around with it before you decide? I like the idea of warm light, but I am not sure which would look more cohesive with the overall piece.
Your mockup was one of my favorites today. I was very impressed with how you were able to create forced perspective with such a simple layout, making me really excited for your final project. Do you plan on keeping the sky visual with the clouds, or will that be switched for pure light?
Your mockup is so cool! I know you’re worried about depth, but I’d definitely look into possible options like making your own box or shadow boxes at other places before settling for something really shallow. I think having space to get the effect you want will be really important and I know you are planning to keep this piece around for a long time. But if you find something that works for you, go for it!
This is awesome! If you’re worried about depth, it may be worth it to revisit the infinite mirror concept; also, I visited an art store over the weekend that used mirrors in a clever way to pretend as though miniature scenes had infinite depth. Not exactly sure what they’re called but I’m sure they’re easy enough to find examples of on the internet for inspiration.