Toyoharu Kii

"Jophiel " Mixed-media Mosaic, 2021

2021

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...

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. Clas...

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. Clas...

Intricate, ethereal and highly textured, the abstract compositions of Japanese mosaic artist Toyoharu Kii reflect a sophisticated approach to the technica...

Original Mosaic on cement panel. Ref.: Domus 1948, p. IX and p. 29. An awesome and beautiful example on Campigli's Art of creating imaginative characters following his creativity,...

An awesome and beautiful example on Campigli's Art of creating imaginative characters following his creativity, successfully experimented in paintings, and one of the very rare mosai...

"DS Couple Seeks Female switch - mw4w - 3131 (Cinci) - Her" by Carlton Scott Sturgill. medium: paint chip sample mosaic, vintage Ralph Lauren gift box Born in 1971 in Cincinnati, Ohio, CARLTON SCOTT STURGILL received his Masters of Arts (Fine Art) from London’s Chelsea College of Art in Design in 2005, and his BA from the University of Cincinnati in 2002. Although he now lives outside of the Queen City, his work continues to be shaped by his Midwestern roots. His work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums in North America and Europe, including the Cornell Museum of Art in Delray Beach...

"DS Couple Seeks Female switch - mw4w - 3131 (Cinci) - Him" by Carlton Scott Sturgill. medium: paint chip sample mosaic, vintage Ralph Lauren gift box Born in 1971 in Cincinnati, Ohio, CARLTON SCOTT STURGILL received his Masters of Arts (Fine Art) from London’s Chelsea College of Art in Design in 2005, and his BA from the University of Cincinnati in 2002. Although he now lives outside of the Queen City, his work continues to be shaped by his Midwestern roots. His work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums in North America and Europe, including the Cornell Museum of Art in Delray Beach...