Experiments in Wax - Mitsuro Hikime

I recently took a course about experimenting with a completely different kind of material. Mitsuro Hikime is an ancient traditional Japanese wax technique. The name roughly translates to “honey wax” due to the texture and consistency of the wax used.

The hard jeweller’s wax I usually work with generally behaves itself. You start with a solid block, have a plan of what you’ll create from it, and carve with confidence, slowly creating something with crisp edges and intentional detail. Mitsuro Hikime wax is quite the opposite, it’s soft, temperamental, and absolutely not interested in being told what to do!

The course was honestly fascinating. I went in thinking, oh I know about wax carving, how hard can this be? It turns out, actually quite difficult!

One of the first things that made Mitsuro Hikime feel so different is that you begin by making the wax from scratch. It’s a slow but satisfying process, feeling slightly like a chemistry experiment. Once heated and blended, it is left to cool thoroughly, and then comes the magic!

With Mitsuro Hikime, the process is all about stretching and pulling the wax to create soft, ribbon-like textures that look almost fluid. Instead of cutting into a hard surface and removing material, you’re manipulating a pliable substance, letting it fold and twist to create beautiful, flowing lines and textures.

The traditional wax carving I am so familar with has a certain discipline. You’re measuring, refining, shaping with precision. This is softer, more intuitive, and all about seeing what happens as you gently encourage the material. For someone who is, quite frankly, a little bit of a control freak and likes a plan, this feels both wonderful and mildly terrifying.

There’s something incredibly freeing about it though. You let the material lead you and follow the movement rather than forcing it. Which all sounds very poetic and calm until you’re halfway through pulling a perfect wax ribbon when it snaps in your hands and you briefly consider abandoning the whole thing!

These photos are some of the little test pieces I made during the course - a handful of rings and small ribbon-like forms, all focused on shape, movement and texture. They’re not “finished designs” as such. More like experimental sketches, but in wax.

There’s something quite satisfying about making pieces that exist purely for exploration. No pressure for perfection, no client brief, no need to decide immediately what they’re going to become. Just a process of learning and playing and seeing where the material takes you. Saying that, I might get a couple cast into silver, just to see how they translate. I’m curious to see whether the softness of the ribbons will hold, and how the texture will behave once it’s been transformed into metal.

The whole process was incredibly pleasing, and it’s definitely something I want to spend more time with. There’s so much depth to Mitsuro Hikime - it’s one of those techniques where you can immediately tell you’ve only just scratched the surface.

It’s reminded me how important it is, as a maker, to keep learning. To step sideways occasionally. To do something unfamiliar and slightly uncomfortable and see what it unlocks.