"Waiting for the Time" 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.

In this evocative mosaic entitled "Waiting for the Time," Kii imagines the pensive serenity of laying in wait, taking inspiration from the dormant stage of an insect life cycle. Kii explains, “an insect in its pupal stage is sleeping underground, waiting for the time to wake up and become an insect. Nearby is a heavy rock covered by thick soil. It would be long and hard work to get through.” Celebrating the insect's resilience, Kii embeds a patterned form within the grid-like mosaic, burying it deep beneath the weight of densely packed tessera.