Johanna de Clisson - Hiromi
Artistic director, designer and ceramist, Johanna de Clisson is a complete artist. A graduate of ENSAD (National School of Decorative Arts), she began by practicing photography, working with a large-format view camera on still life. In 2021, she created her label Hiromi, meaning “free-spirited beauty” in Japanese, a research studio specialized in design and ceramics. Her creations blend rough textured chamotte earthenware and sensual touch cracked enamel she sometimes associates with metal or wood in her immaculate studio-laboratory in the north of Paris. Johanna de Clisson has developed a vocabulary of graphic forms which she explores with HIROMI, a collection of objects such as wall lamps, floor lamps, table lamps and wall modules. Playing with paradoxes, Johanna de Clisson simultaneously sculpts objects with brutalist and voluptuous shapes and volumes, like two extremes colliding. She signs limited edition furniture (seats, bedside tables, coffee tables) and custom-made light sculptures for special orders from architects. At the frontier between art and design, she claims the beauty of constraint and asceticism as her personal guidelines. Genuine backbone of her research, architecture is the main source of reference for the artist who evokes Ryue Nishizawa, Tadao Ando or Oscar Niemeyer as tutelary figures who guide her in her desire to transcribe architectural forms in everyday life. She also draws inspiration from the artistic current of German objective photography, such as Bernd and Hilla Becher’s typological and serial approach. It is in a former workshop in the 9th arrondissement of Paris that she develops and exhibits her work. Old wooden ‘parquet’, white walls, buttercloth curtains and a few design pieces compose this silent space. Johanna sculpts dressed in a white blouse, a uniform that frees her spirit and guides her towards the rigor of her work. Texte: Marie Godfrain Photo crédit: Adel Slimane Fecih
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Profile
Key points
- Artistic director, designer, and ceramist.
- Graduate of ENSAD (École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs).
- Founder of Hiromi, a research studio specializing in design and ceramics (est. 2021).
- Known for interplay of brutalist and voluptuous shapes, merging ceramics with wood and metal.
- Inspired by architecture, especially Ryue Nishizawa, Tadao Ando, and Oscar Niemeyer.
Nationality
French designer
Style
Minimalist, brutalist, sculptural
- Balance between raw textures and sensual finishes
- Strong architectural influences
- Monochrome aesthetic, focus on form over decoration
Overview
Studio Background
Johanna de Clisson founded Hiromi in 2021, a research-based design and ceramics studio in Paris.
Initially trained as a photographer, she transitioned to ceramics after several years in art direction. Her work blends asceticism with sculptural experimentation, exploring the tension between rough textures and refined forms.
Founders
Johanna de Clisson
Approach, design philosophy
Constraint and asceticism.
She strips away ornamentation to reach the essence of form.
"I constantly try to escape ornamentation for a more ascetic and universal approach." (The Socialite Family)
"I needed a reset, which came through the use of white. Skipping the color stage brings something more universal, more accessible." (HomeMagazine)
Her work seeks to translate architectural principles into objects, reflecting influences from brutalism and Japanese minimalism.
Style
Minimalist, sculptural, tactile.
Pieces blend architectural rigidity with organic softness, resulting in structured yet poetic objects.
Main inspirations
- Architecture: Ryue Nishizawa, Tadao Ando, Oscar Niemeyer
- Photography: Bernd and Hilla Becher
- Design movements: Memphis, anti-design of the 1970s
- Material studies: Contrasts between chamotte earthenware, cracked enamel, and wood
"Architecture is the backbone of my research. I admire Tadao Ando’s rigor and simplicity." (The Socialite Family)
Identity and aesthetics
Rigorous exploration of form:
"I work around three shapes that I have imposed on myself: the circle, the half-circle, the cylinder." (Goodmoods)
Creations balance architectural references, playful modularity, and raw materiality.
Values
- Simplicity and universality: "The objects you create are rather timeless, outside of trends." (HomeMagazine)
- The beauty of labor: "Working again and again on the same idea to legitimize it." (GoodMoods)
- Material integrity: "Adding texture, like grain in photography, brings intimacy, reality, and lived experience." (HomeMagazine)
Creative process
- Initial sketches and proportion studies
- Focus on modularity and repetition
- Handmade production in Parisian atelier
- Collaboration with artisans in wood/metal
Production and materials
- Chamotte earthenware: rough texture for depth
- Cracked enamel: tactile, sensual contrast
- Wood and metal: for structural and visual interplay
Her pieces often blend chamotte earthenware and cracked enamel, sometimes combined with wood or metal, all handmade in her Paris studio.
Production methods
- Hand-building and sculpting unique forms
- Mold-based repetition for consistency with variation
- Surface texturing for desired finishes
Main categories
- Lighting (table lamps, wall sconces, light sculptures)
- Furniture (seats, coffee tables, bedside tables)
- Sculptural objects and wall modules
Notable collections
- Objet 10 (The Wave): modular undulating sculpture
- Objet 11 (Pacman): interlocking ceramic forms
- Objet 21: spaceship-inspired suspension light
- Objet 24: sculptural light with architectural influences
Major projects
- Custom light sculptures for architects
- Wall sculptures and installations for collectors
- Liberté bakery, Paris (9th): ceramic pieces for the space
- Galerie Objets Inanimés (Marseille): exhibited works
Recognition
Her work is recognized for its innovative blend of sculpture and design, featured in major design publications and shown in contemporary galleries.
"My creations look like lamps, yet I call them Objects. I like working at the boundary between art and design, between form and function, setting aside functionality to focus on shape." (Goodmoods)
Press/media quotes
- Milk Decoration: https://www.milkdecoration.com/latelier-de-ceramique-hiromi/
- Ideat: https://ideat.fr/johanna-de-clisson-hiromi-objets/
- The Socialite Family: https://www.thesocialitefamily.com/fr-fr/media/article/chez-fondatrice-atelier-hiromi-johanna-de-clisson
- HomeMagazine: https://www.homemagazine.fr/hiromi-liberte-creative/
Headquarters and website
- Paris, France
- Instagram: @hiromi_objets
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