"Flourishing Branch" 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 textured mosaic entitled "Flourishing Branch," Kii depicts the forking bough of a tree as bursting with life. Recreating the complexities of nature, the branch is drawn by a collision of lively patterns, contrasted by a field of densely-packed white marble tesserae. Evoking the harmonious chaos of life and growth, this flourishing branch enlivens a room with its playful use of positive and negative space.