"Abandoned Land" Mosaic by Toyoharu Kii

A leader of the cross-cultural craft resurgence, Japan-based artist Toyoharu Kii creates his intricate mosaics with hand-cut Italian marble and smalti, Venetian glass made by the same Italian family for over 400 years. Using traditional Italian techniques, Kii’s art is nonetheless modern. It is monochromatic, abstract, and highly textured and highlights the involved and technical art of mosaic making. “Abandoned Land” employs texture and line in a monochromatic mosaic to tell the tale of thwarted ambition and industry. Using varied levels to his tile work, the artist creates an abandoned worksite, riddled with plowed earth, dug holes, and the traces of tire tracks.