Something to Protect
守るべきものA woven iron egg guarded by a single perched bird.
RealizedI.
Profile
Thirty years at the forge, before the first gallery wall.
Ikeuchi trained as a welder in his family's ironworks on the island of Shikoku, twice placing in Kochi Prefecture's welding competitions before he ever exhibited as an artist. In his late forties he redirected that trade toward sculpture, exhibiting every year since 2009.
Every work in this catalogue is still hand-forged in his own workshop in Kochi — nothing outsourced, nothing cast from the same mould twice.
2009–Exhibiting nationally
6+Awards, Kochi & Shinshoten
2023First shown abroad, APOC
Concept to Reality
Fig. 2–4 — What was rendered, and what now stands.
Every commission begins as a cinematic previsualization. The following three left that stage months ago — they are shown here as they stand today, in weather, at full scale.
Installed
Site
Something to Protect
「守るべきもの」A woven iron egg watched over by a single bird, installed at the head of a shrine's stone stairway in Kochi.
▶ Watch the filmInstalled
Site
Keep Asking
「問う」A weathered mask on wire limbs, set at the tideline of the Shikoku coast, reworked by every wave.
▶ Watch the filmInstalled
Site
Plant
「植物」Iron stems grown into a bamboo garden rather than placed against it, ageing the way the garden ages.
▶ Watch the filmThe Catalogue
Six works, in two states of being.
Realized works can be replicated for your site. Bespoke concepts are previsualized and ready to be scaled and forged.
Keep Asking
問うA weathered mask on wire limbs, built for the tideline.
RealizedPlant
植物Iron stems grown to stand among real bamboo.
RealizedFire
炎A folded flame of hammered steel for a double-height space.
BespokeWhite Egg
白卵A cracked, weathered egg opened onto a warm interior.
BespokeLeaf Vessel
無題A wire-legged vessel cradling a hammered leaf.
BespokeWorks in Iron
Shown in galleries, outdoors, and at the museum gate.
Photographs of finished works as they were exhibited and installed. Select any image to view it full size.
Flower & Stone
A wide rusted-iron bloom holding a single stone, carried on one wandering stem — with a pierced iron butterfly settling at its edge.
Rebar Tree
Hundreds of lengths of rebar twisted into a single trunk, opening into a crown above and roots below — wrapped in a band of orange steel.
Museum Monument
Coloured steel blades rising from a black steel core beside the museum's stone marker, reading clearly against the surrounding forest.
Functional Iron
Sculpture you can hang a coat on, sit on, or store things in.
The same hand-forged iron, made to be used every day. Each piece is built to order and can be sized and coloured for your space.
Tree Hanger
A natural log trunk sprouting coloured steel leaves that double as hooks. At home in a nursery entrance or a design-office reception.
Leaf Bench
A long, gently curving bench of cedar slats on many slender iron legs — a creature resting in the garden, with an iron head to match.
Garden Store
A slim cedar-clad store on a steel frame, with a forged iron flower in the window and a red lever handle.
Images marked “Placement image” show how a piece could look in a setting; they are not records of a delivered installation.
Placements
Where the catalogue is meant to be seen.
01
Residence & Lobby
The first object a resident's eyes meet — permanence, stated before the brochure is read.
02
Members' Club & Lounge
A single object in a room built for conversation, placed so guests are meant to ask what it is.
03
Hospitality & Hotel
Weatherproof enough for the entrance, refined enough to anchor a lobby or bath-house approach.
04
Private Garden & Estate
Grown alongside planting rather than placed against it, ageing the way the garden ages.
Process
From consultation to installation.
01
Consultation
We review the site — light, sightlines, scale, and what it should say.
02
Previsualization
The piece is placed in a cinematic render of its future setting for approval.
03
Forging
Hand-built in Ikeuchi's Kochi workshop, using technique practiced since youth.
04
Installation & Care
Delivered, installed, and weather-tested, with an ongoing maintenance plan.
Recognition
A record judged by Japan's own juries.
Kochi Prefectural Art Exhibition — multiple awards, 2011–2020
Shinshoten — Osaka Governor's Award, 2018
Shinshoten — Honorable Mention & Holbein Award, 2014
APOC — Asia-Pacific Orchid Conference, 2023
Contact
Begin with a conversation about your site.
Send the location, the space, and what you have in mind. We reply with a previsualization concept before any commitment is required.
- Studio
- IL Bussan Co., Ltd. (有限会社アイエル物産)
Iron sculptor Ikeuchi, Kochi, Japan - Address
- 1073-2 Doi, Noichi-cho, Konan City, Kochi, Japan
- ilbussan@coral.ocn.ne.jp
- Telephone / Fax
- +81 887-54-0711 / +81 887-54-0712
- Full Portfolio
- iwatakuniyasu.wixsite.com/ikeuchi