Ikigai

Ikigai is a large suspended light sculpture in white, cast in alabaster plaster and carved by hand, with openings that wind through its body and release a soft, diffused glow. It is made in an edition of 8 in our Amsterdam studio. The name is the Japanese word for a life's purpose. While making this piece we kept thinking about how long the search for that purpose can take, and how much struggle comes with it. The lamp came to hold both. We carved it while it hung in the air, the same way it lives, so there is no top or bottom, no side that ever rested on a table. It took months before the form felt right. The first time we hung the finished piece and switched it on, the light began to move across the surface and we both went quiet. The closest word we have for that feeling is belonging. Each one is cast and carved by hand, so no two are alike. The material has its own say in every piece, and we let it.