Intricate, ethereal and highly textured, the abstract compositions of Japanese mosaic artist Toyoharu Kii reflect a sophisticated approach to the technical art of mosaic making. Classically trained in Florence, Italy, Kii creates his modern mosaics using traditional techniques and materials, including hand-cut Italian marble and Venetian smalti glass. Eschewing the figural in favor of the abstract, his mosaics rely on contrasts of pattern and form to convey complex themes and achieve visual harmony.
Toyoharu Kii’s latest body of work “Geophytes” continues themes of rebirth and renewal. A reference to plants that regrow from hidden elements beneath the earth’s surface, the series celebrates the resilience of the natural world. Each mosaic is imagined as a landscape that documents a history of environmental damage due to human activity, and the subsequent return of nature as a restorative force. Through the juxtaposition of patterns and the interplay of order and disorder, Kii creates man-made “images of destruction” and finds hope in the future by “reconstructing nature.”
In this mosaic entitled "Reconstructed Landscape," Kii explores the physical transformation of a landscape. The mosaic is fragmented by deep crevices that cut through the terrain, a seemingly insurmountable divide caused by human carelessness. As is typical in Kii’s works, the grid-like arrangement of white tesserae surrounding these crevices represents a controlled, man-made environment. Contrasting areas of curvilinear shapes, vibrant colors, and irregular tesserae symbolize the chaotic beauty of nature returning to the land. In these areas that nature has reclaimed, the dividing gaps begin to fuse and heal, reconstructing the land into a cohesive whole. In the artist’s own words, “gathering again the broken pieces, nature begins to repair itself.”
"Reconstructed Landscape," 2022.
Toyoharu Kii (b. 1953)
Marble mosaic and smalti.
