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.”
Entitled "Cloud Garden," this mosaic tells a story of nature and rebirth. The lively composition depicts a fractured landscape, a swirling cloud of fragments, plants and currents of color. Like an overgrown garden or abandoned ruins, fragments of human activity - represented as orderly grids of tesserae - are enveloped by a chaotic sprawl of flowers and leafy foliage. As nature reclaims the damaged terrain, these fragments begin to disintegrate and become one with the natural order.
“Cloud Garden,” 2021
Toyoharu Kii (b. 1953)
Marble mosaic and smalti.
