STELLAR LIGHT BY TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA

Obviously this piece is for Swarovski, but I want to know if Tokujin Yoshioka, the creative force behind Stellar, had a muse. "Who do you design for?" I ask. "Who or what guided you in the pursuit of this design?"

"I want to know also," he replies quietly. It is clear that Tokujin is driven by something indescribable inside. What he really treasures is people appreciating his designs. "I want people to appreciate it and have a new experience; to experience it as an emotional moment." So he knows he designs for viewers, but admits to designing for himself as well. "I also want to be moved."

Humbled underneath Stellar, it is impossible not to be moved. Even the most jaded of viewers must admit to a measure of awe and respect inspired by this volume of light.

Stellar was based by Tokujin's earlier Venus Chair, but for this project the natural crystals were grown in an aquarium in Milan with material sent from Tokyo. "What sort of challenges did this project present?" I asked.

He replied, "When we were working on the Venus project, we stopped all work on other projects for one year. I created the Venus chair in my studio, and I even had to move my car out. It looked more like a laboratory, than a design studio. It was a challenge because I cannot control nature; there is no instruction manual. It is something you cannot draw by hand or be calculated. But each form has a reason: when we look at forms in nature, everything is in place for a reason."

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