MIYA lamps were born from a very specific intention: to create extraordinary light fixtures capable of inhabiting a space as much as a decorative object. I wanted sculptural pieces with presence, where the material would not simply serve to make a lamp, but to shape the light itself.
When I began working with natural fibres, I naturally turned to full weaving. At the time, I imagined volumes entirely wrapped in material, created row by row, with the desire to shape pieces that felt almost architectural. I wanted to go beyond the object and create a true presence within an interior.
But very quickly, I discovered what this technique truly involved. These creations required an immense amount of time and some pieces demanded up to three weeks of making.
The gesture was demanding. The structures had to be held in tension during the weaving process, the volumes supported, the lines adjusted and sometimes restarted entirely. It was demanding. Physically as well. And it required space.
The creations lived in the atelier for days, sometimes weeks, occupying the space at the rhythm of their construction.
Yet this stage was essential. It taught me patience, dialogue with the material and the way light moves through a creation.
Over time, I began searching for something else. I still loved working with fibres, but I wanted more lightness, more air and more light. Gradually, I opened the structures, revealed the lines and accepted emptiness as an integral part of the creation.
The fibres no longer entirely covered the volumes but instead began to emphasise them. This is how MIYA corseted lamps were born.
Little by little, the materials evolved as well. The creations gained new contrasts: linen, already present in the world of cushions, brought softness and texture; leather introduced a more noble and structured presence; cowrie shells appeared as fragments of travel and memory.
The corseted lines had found their own language.
Their forms evoke for me ties, tensions, textile craftsmanship and corseted silhouettes. Every cord becomes a line, every fastening contributes to the drawing and the structure is no longer hidden: it becomes part of the story.
Like the Ashanti weights, cowrie shells and materials found in other creations, these lamps also carry a story of travel. But here, the journey is different.
It is not a place: it is a transformation. The passage from a gesture to a language, from a technique to a signature.
Even today, some creations still preserve the heritage of those early weavings. But corseted lamps have become my way of expressing light: sculptural pieces where the material no longer covers it — it reveals it.
Discover the materials, stories, creations and destinations that shape MIYA's universe.