"A Wheel Stopper" Mosaic by Toyoharu Kii

In the mosaic “A Wheel Stopper,” Toyoharu Kii records an object he encounters everyday while walking his dog. The round form, striped by small, rectangular tesserae, represents a bollard used to control road traffic. Groups of irregularly shaped tiles ring the bollard, their latent energy held at a distance by a buffer of orderly tiles.

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.