Takuya Iba was destined to advance as a craftsman...
We all know that metal is a sturdy, yet he creates soft-looking delicate silver wire items with intricate lace patterns. The fusion design that is reminiscent of Japanese flowers and Art Nouveux is simply beautiful, and you can't help but sigh when gazing upon it.
In his 20s, whilst unrelated to the jewelry world, Mr. Iba traveled, as if by destiny, to Spain. In the Mediterranean, town of Vejer de la Frontera, he met jewelry artist Marco Suarez and, whilst attending a workshop, became fascinated with the world of metal craft. I guess it was all inevitable...After returning to Japan, he was determined to become a craftsman, and focused on traditional Japanese metal crafts. “Overseas, many foreigners know about the greatness of Japanese techniques. I thought that I also wanted to rediscover the quality of Japanese of crafts.”
He creates pieces that aim to capture “the beauty of nature”.
Currently Takuya Iba is a metal craft artist who is also is active in making of metal ornaments that are specifically for jewelry. In his works, flowers relating to the four seasons of Japan often appear, such as cherry, plum and iris. “As well as Art Nouveaux, the beauty I want to convey is from natural flowers and plants. I try to replicate as accurately as possible using my hand.” In order to aid his pursuit in creating beautiful items, he taught himself the traditional craft from Akita Prefecture, silver filigree. A bunch of silver threads, with a thickness of less than 0.3 millimeters, together with one strand of processed silver wire are used to create leaf and flower shapes.
“I want the work to be and aesthetic compilation,” and his items are indeed highly aesthitic with lots of unseen fine details. Furthremore, the majestic shine of the silver does not wither and remains beautiful forever.
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- 1. Apart silver filigree, he has also created many other works. He relies purely on his senses whilst carrying out carving and shaping work.
- 2. The thickness of the main material, silver wire, is adjusted depending on the item. He can also produce silver wire that is so fine that it looks like thread.
- 3. A cherry blossom hairpin. Delicate flowers arranged around softly-textured processed 18 karat silver.
- 4. The flowers' sizes are small, medium and large. A cherry blossom necklace for Western-style clothing, along with matching cherry blossom earrings.
- 5. A Chinese flower pattern sash clip for kimono decorated with rubies. A 3-way item that can also be used as a brooch or necklace. The design on the left has 3 cherry blossom flowers.