Amit Shur was born in Kibbutz Kinneret, Israel, in 1955. She completed her studies in the Department of Gold and Silversmithing at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in 1984. From 1980 to 1993, she taught jewelry-making at the Canadian Hadassa-Wizo Neri Bloomfield College of Design. The recipient of many awards, Shur won the coveted Jesselson prize for Contemporary Judaica Design in 1994. Her work has appeared in many exhibitions in Israel and abroad, including Nerot Mitzvah at the Israel Museum in 1985 as well as in commercial galleries.

Shur's lamp is constructed of two parts -- a shallow square metal container that holds the necessary oil and an aluminum cover, pierced with a series of small cross-shaped slits, that allows one to pull the wicks through the slits in preparation for lighting. Although designed as a Hanukkah lamp, the artist concedes that the lamp could be used for other occasions - "the lamp is a modular use lamp for birthdays, holidays and eternity occasions (i.e., commemorative occasions etc.)."

Shur's design is guided by a sense of practicality and purpose. Regarding the creation of Hanukkah lamps she makes the following observations: An original Hanukkah Menorah represents a challenge that is at once Jewish and universal… I focused on its original and most basic function. When one strips away the ornamentation accumulated over the centuries, one is left with an object that was devised essentially as a practical solution in response to the commandment of performing a specific ritual, namely kindling the lights. That activity directly ties the object to present-day Jews, who continue to perform the same ritual in commemoration of the original event…I was ultimately guided by the same practical concept as that which presumably guided the original design, namely, the creation of a depression in the material so that it can be filled with oil. My menorah is thus an attempt to return, in terms of its basic design, to its ancient and original function. At the same time it is essentially a product of the present century because of the technology used to create it (artist's statement, nd., courtesy the Spertus Museum).

Shur cites three main elements as key to her work. "Foremost of these is its practical usefulness… The other two are observance of religious ritual and perpetuation of the Jewish cultural tradition" (artist's statement, n.d.).