"Walking in socks on the creaking wood, and climbing the steps that lead to the little pavilion, which has not changed since that first trip 28 years ago, which remains immutable, as if time stopped, and that those 28 years had never passed, that it was always the first time."
Laurence Corteggiani (Founder Atelier Ikiwa)
The desire to see the sun rise in the east of the world is what makes me vibrate, since always. My dreams of Japan in particular began remotely, when as a teenager - without internet and far from an urban life - I fed my imagination with the books of Yasunari Kawabata, Yukio Mishima, and so many others.
My Japan and my Korea are multiple, abundant, creative, with crazy energy, but at the same time gentle, contemplative and stunningly beautiful. Two countries that I know so well, that I have loved so much, for so long, that the Atelier Ikiwa adventure was an obvious choice. I spent 25 wonderful years in marketing and communications management within major luxury brands that took me around the world, and in 2022 I knew that the time had come to fully turn to Asia, and to bring to life the project that I had been maturing for a long time.
With rigor and patience, I select, in Japan and Korea directly from artisans or partner galleries, objects that have an extra soul: unique exceptional pieces or objects to live in very small quantities, created by craftsmen and which give pride of place to ancient know-how transposed into a contemporary vision. I work on impulse, and without accumulation (I do not have stock, once sold the objects generally do not come back).
A passionate collector myself, I have developed an expertise that allows me to recognize what is beautiful and rare, and to be able to offer you my selection, in this online store or on the occasion of a few (too rare) pop-up stores in Paris (where I live).
Generously sharing my interest in travel, the art of living and the culture of Japan and Korea, through the newsletter or within a beautiful Instagram community, is also part of the infinite pleasure I take in developing the Atelier Ikiwa project.
“You love Japan, what else do you have left to visit?”
“Everything, because there is nothing to visit, but everything to feel.”
Interview with Jean-Claude Ellena
The poetry of objects
Our objects, like the diaries of our memory, connect us to our emotions, to the infinite pleasure in beauty, bringing a soul and a crazy presence to our interiors.
They carry within them the legacy of ancient stories, those of know-how that are passed down from generation to generation, of time that will pass but that will make them even more beautiful, of handwork, of an artistic craft that has its place in our contemporary societies. The quiet elegance of sublime things that we can continue to love for a long time.
A certain idea of elegance
The subtlety of a palette of muted colours; the harmonious blend of materials: the blond of bamboo, the textured white paper, the rough dark woods, the mirror black of lacquers and their golden reflections, the patinated hollows of ceramics, the clean and pure lines; the passage of time that retains beauty; the imperfections that become perfection; the emotions that brush against simplicity; the traditions that become contemporary evidence...
Camera slung over my shoulder, notebook and pencil in hand, eyes wide open, that's what I try to capture.
IKIWA WORKSHOP
Precious objects from Japan and Korea born from inspired hands
WRAPPING
Precious objects are wrapped in textiles tied using the Korean art of pojagi.