RealizedSomething to Protect
「守るべきもの」A woven iron egg guarded by a single perched bird.
The Sculptor
Three decades of ironwork, now available as a placement program.
Ikeuchi trained as a welder in his family's ironworks on Shikoku before turning to sculpture in his late forties. Since 2009 his work has been collected and awarded across Japan's most serious exhibitions, and every piece is still hand-forged in his own workshop in Kochi.
This program packages that craft for organizations that need to place a single, defensible object — vetted, insurable, and proven able to stand outdoors for years — rather than commission original art from scratch.
Reference Installations
Case studies: previsualized, then delivered.
Each commission is previsualized in a cinematic render of its future site before fabrication begins. The following three have since been forged, delivered, and installed.
Something to Protect
「守るべきもの」
Keep Asking
「問う」
Plant
「植物」The Collection
Six works available under the program.
Realized works ship as replicas built to your site. Bespoke concepts are previsualized and ready to be scaled to your specification.
RealizedRealizedKeep Asking
「問う」A weathered mask on wire limbs, built for the tideline.
RealizedPlant
「植物」Iron stems grown to stand among real bamboo.
Bespoke
Fire
「炎」A folded flame of hammered steel for a double-height space.
Bespoke
White Egg
「白卵」A cracked, weathered egg opened onto a warm interior.
Bespoke
Leaf Vessel
「無題」A wire-legged vessel cradling a hammered leaf.
Works 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.
Placement Program
Built for four categories of client.
Residential Developers
A signature object for the lobby or entrance of a residential tower or condominium — presented to prospective buyers as part of the building's identity, not an add-on.
Private Members' Clubs
A single sculptural object for a lounge, bar, or reception — chosen to be noticed, discussed, and remembered by members and their guests.
Hospitality Groups
Weatherproof enough for an entrance or courtyard, refined enough for an interior lobby or bath-house approach, across one property or a portfolio.
Private Estates
A piece scaled and sited for a private garden or estate, grown alongside the landscape rather than placed against it.
Process
A defined path from proposal to installation.
01
Consultation
We review your site — light, sightlines, scale, and what it should say.
02
Previsualization
The piece is placed in a cinematic render of its future setting for sign-off.
03
Forging
Hand-built in Ikeuchi's Kochi workshop, to your approved scale and finish.
04
Delivery & Care
Shipped, installed, and weather-tested, with an ongoing maintenance plan.
Recognition
Due-diligence, made simple.
Kochi Prefectural Art Exhibition — multiple awards, 2011–2020
Shinshoten National Exhibition — Osaka Governor's Award, 2018
Shinshoten — Honorable Mention & Holbein Industry Award, 2014
APOC — Asia-Pacific Orchid Conference, 2023
Request a Proposal
Tell us about the site and the program.
Send the property, the space, and the number of sites under consideration. We respond with a previsualization concept and indicative scope 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