This is what a lamp made of empty vaccine vials looks like 0:30
(CNN) -
A Colorado public health nurse took the empty covid-19 vaccine vials and turned them into a beautiful work of art, paying tribute to her colleagues in the healthcare sector.
Laura Weiss told CNN that she was a retired nurse when the Boulder County Public Health Department asked for help administering vaccines in February.
"I realized there were hundreds and hundreds of empty vaccine vials that were otherwise going to go to waste, and I thought they were really beautiful and I wanted to do something meaningful with them," Weiss said.
Weiss obtained permission to use Moderna's glass vials of the COVID-19 vaccine and created a beautiful chandelier.
"I realized that I wanted to do something with light because I felt like it has been such a dark and challenging year for so many people that I like the idea of bringing a light to this," he said.
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"I think light can represent hope and clarity, and it also has the potential to broaden vision and verify perspective."
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The idea to make a chandelier came from a purchase on eBay.
He found the empty frame on the internet and thought it would be a great medium for his project.
"From a distance ... the lamp looks like a normal chandelier, but when you get close to it, it really turns into something very different and your perspective changes," he said.
"It reminds me that we can see something one way and when we zoom in or look at it another way, our assumptions can actually be very wrong."
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The artwork does not yet have a permanent home, but Weiss said that wherever he goes, he wants everyone who sees it to understand his intention to honor the healthcare workers who put their health and lives in danger during the pandemic.
"There are too many people and professions to mention, but especially these nurses that I have seen work tirelessly, hours and hours and days and days, without a day off, who have so much passion and skill and care and kindness," she said.
"How can you thank someone who does so much for others? He is so inspiring."
Yet now Weiss is giving back and inspiring others.
"This artwork of appreciation is really important because I think we're all seeing this sense of unity right now as we record the rise of the delta variant," Angela Simental, Boulder Public Health's manager of communications and marketing, told CNN.
"We are very happy to have this kind of light in art to remind us that we can protect ourselves and others by getting vaccinated, being kind to one another, and honoring the efforts of everyone involved in this."
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