|
HOME PAGE |
LUXURY NOW |
WINDOW SHOPPING |
BRAND GALLERY |
CITY GUIDE |
LUXURY TRAVELER |
ARTS PORTFOLIO |
Creativity springs from nature, as Japanese artist Makoto Azuma masterfully constructs botanical masterpieces crafted from some of the world’s most beautiful blooms.
In 1997, a 21-year-old Makoto Azuma moved to Tokyo in search of fame as a rock musician. He has found stardom, not on the stage but in the hothouse, within the world of botanic art. In 2001, he opened Jardins des Fleurs, a beautifully sparse boutique dedicated to blooms in Tokyo’s suitably chic Ginza district, that has become a cult address among the city’s floricultural aficionados.
Azuma’s botanical themed artworks have garnered international acclaim, from the festive decoration of Paris’s famed fashion mecca Colette, to an incredibly successful solo exhibition last year in Dusseldorf. Last year Azuma was invited to take part in Tokujin Yoshioka’s Second Nature exhibition at Tokyo’s 21_21 Design Sight, alongside an impressive line of international stars, including the Campana brothers and Ross Lovegrove, while at this year’s Salone del Mobile in Milan he joined fellow Japanese artists, including Kengo Kuma, in the collective exhibition Tokyo Fiber 09 Senseware.
In 2007, the artist launched his own solo project. He opened his own gallery AMPG, a space dedicated to Azuma’s art which eventually closed after two years, leaving fans of his work waiting in anticipation for his next vegetal-inspired project. Azuma’s floral aesthetic renders each arrangement a unique living work of art. Pine trees dangle in space within large cubic voids and lily heads, clipped to prosthetic metal stems, express Azuma’s innovative approach, which follows a freer, more organic alternative to the restraints of classic Ikebana. Along with more traditional species, such as gladioli and dahlias, Makoto Azuma also works with rare species garnered from the wilds of Japan’s mountain regions or flowers carefully cultivated within the artist’s own field.
Your two-year gallery project, AMPG ended last April. What did you gain from this experience?
I don’t know what would indicate whether or not it was a success, but using
plants as living things and creating artworks for two years (one piece per month, totaling 24 works), I think that this is enough to approve and open up new possibilities in plant art.
Do you ever work with seeds and cross pollination to create hybrids?
No. I am an artist, not a botanist therefore I do not work in this way, plus I would not wish to destroy the ecosystem.
What other processes and experiments are you currently working on?
I have been working on an experimental project using pine, utilizing the beauty of this wood, and covering it with thousands of pieces of steel panels. I will be holding an exhibition in Ginza, Tokyo next February 2010.
What are the rarest flowers that you work with and how do you attain them?
I often go to the mountains to find them. I continuously look for them for a week or two weeks until I track them down.
What is the most interesting, or surprising thing that you have discovered about flora or botany since working with flowers?
Absolutely everything about flowers and plants fascinates me.
Do you have any favorite floral combinations?
No, I enjoy all types of flowers. I do not distinguish between them.
In your recent Distorted Flowers exhibition, you combined your musical passion with flowers inspired by the sounds, textures and distortions emitted. How did this idea come about and what were the main principles or findings behind the installation?
I still play in a band. When I play instruments, I use a machine called an effect pedal to effectively distort the sound of the music. Then the form of flowers and their scents emerge in my head as images. The idea for the exhibition came from this momentary experience. The distorted sound makes people to use their five senses and let them imagine a story or poem.
Ikebana is an art form that is rich in both tradition and spirituality within Japan. Does this influence the style of your work?
No, there is no particular style. Ikebana is about form. If I had a style, that would be to destroy the form. All creation is present in infinity.
What are your current projects?
I’m working on a project in Naoshima, a small island off Shikoku, which
focuses on contemporary art. I am building a cactus garden in a greenhouse
at the public baths.
I’m also using plants and visualizing the scent and imagined world of six world famous designer perfumes to make artworks. I will also make an installation
for this event.
I will also participate in the Japanese Pavillion at next year’s World Expo in Shanghai next May 2010. For the theme of a modern Japanese garden, I will create a garden that is quite innovative.
Makoto Azuma’s definition of luxury:
“To have a heart that is rich and full.”
If luxury were ...
A person:
The Buddha.