There are a handful of people on this planet who literally have the power to blow my mind. Don’t get me wrong, I am surrounded by inspiring and talented colleagues and friends and have a spirited, loving family- I am lucky. But every now and then you see something that seems so simple, yet is so sublime simultaneously.
I introduce you to two Japanese artists that are pushing the artisitc boundaries in every piece they create. They are masters.
Azuma Makoto (@azumamakota) is a floral artist who, in his latest exhibition chose to present flowers, as single stems or as bouquets suspended in giant ice blocks. Some blooms were distorted by being frozen, but interestingly they were snap frozen so their natural beauty and the intensity of the colours were preserved. As the blocks of ice melt, the blooms wither, and you are left with spent flowers and puddles on the floor. Its almost a metaphor for life; a moment in time, realising that life itself cannot be paused, or stopped, life will go on.
Makoto teamed up with Botanical Photographer Shunsuke Shiinoki to open a “haute couture” flower shop in Tokyo in 2002. In 2005 he began exploring the expressive potential of flowers by inventing a new genre of “botannical scultpture”, receiving orders from outside of Japan. After a solo exhibition in New York his unique, experimental works have been exhibited throughout Paris and Dusseldorf repeatedly, and also art museums, galleries and public spaces in Milan, Belgium, Shanghai and Mexico.
Now whilst the concept of freezing flowers probably doesn’t sound all that awe inspiring to anyone out there who has taken edible herbs and flowers and frozen them in ice cubes to add to drinks for a special soiree, I’m sure once you set your eyes on them, you’ll appreciate the difference.
This set my passion alight again, and my heart a-flutter ?
Watch how it all came together before you see the final result
Someone else who is taking inspiration from nature, freezing flowers in space and time, is photographer Kenji Shibato. Shibato’s exhibition “Locked in Ether” showcases flowers literally locked in a moment of time. As time begins to move again, the ice thaws and the flowers are released from the restraint. Shibato’s flowers are more free form and there is less ‘arrangement’ in the placements of the blooms, but the overall concept and effect if the same. I’ve included a few examples here, but if you want to see more, check out his website.
So what do you think?
Is this a technique you would like to see in more wedding and event work? Could we create talking pieces for a special soiree that could have the power to blow your guest’s minds?
I love that there is no limit to creativity!
Fwf x
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