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Toyoharu Kii"Ghost (Big Wings), " Mixed Media Mosaic, 20232023
2023
About the Item
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 "Ghost (Big Wings)," Kii takes a more representational approach to his storytelling, creating figurative drawings out of thin lines of tesserae. The mosaic belongs to his “Ghost” triptych, wherein Kii uses “wings” to represent the presence of a heavenly being, the ghosts of past spirits or the presence of an angel or guardian. In “Ghost (Big Wings),” Kii mourns the extinction of many creatures due to environmental change and imagines their lonely spirits wandering the earth. Enveloping their silhouettes is “a bird with big wings,” writes Kii, depicted here within a dense mosaic of abstract patterns, a symbol for nature’s healing power. “The bird consoles these lonely spirits and covers them with its big wings.”
“Ghost (Big Wings),” 2023
Toyoharu Kii (b. 1953)
Marble mosaic and smalti.
- Creator:Toyoharu Kii (1953, Japanese)
- Creation Year:2023
- Dimensions:Height: 20.5 in (52.07 cm)Width: 15.5 in (39.37 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
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- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Chicago, IL
- Reference Number:Seller: CTOYK0981stDibs: LU1036314043452
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 abstract monochromatic, and highly textured-highlighting the involved and technical art of mosaic making. Kii has come to be revered as one of Japan’s leading mosaic artists and teachers and has served as Chairman of the Mosaic Art Association. He currently lectures at Joshibi University of Art and Design and Musashino Art University. His work has been featured in exhibitions worldwide, most recently in exhibitions in the US, Turkey, and Ravenna, Italy. Kii also commissions incredible large-scale mosaic installations in public spaces.
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