Ildiko Szallas
Ikebana - Vessels with a soul
Ikebana 生け花 is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. Creating in these hand-built vessels feels different - more mindful, more connected. Each piece carries echoes of its past, waiting in the arranger’s hands for a new chapter. The story continues, shaped by intention and beauty.
Background
Ikebana 生け花 is the Japanese art of flower arrangement — though arrangement barely describes it. It is an artistic discipline: seasonal, intentional, expressive. Each composition responds to mood, to time of year, to what the vessel asks of the stems placed within it.
Ildikó's passion for ikebana began in childhood, watching her mother create floral arrangements in their small flat. Time spent with her grandmother nurtured a deep love for plants, fruits and vegetables — shaping the natural sensibility that runs through her practice today.
Vision
In Ikebana, creative expression is a quiet journey—one of practice, patience, and discovery.
As Hiroshi Teshigahara once said, “To develop the ability to arrange more interestingly, students are urged to study the artistic expressions of some other fields of art.” His words remind us: ikebana is not just technique, but a way of seeing—an invitation to explore art in all its forms.
Ildikó studies ikebana independently through the Sogetsu school texts, a self-directed practice that runs alongside her ceramics. In 2026 her work was selected for an exhibition-led collaboration between London Potters and the Sogetsu Ikebana London Branch — a meeting of two practices that have always informed each other.
