"Missing ASANOHA Pattern and Floating Flower" 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 mosaic entitled "Missing ASANOHA Pattern and Floating Flower," Kii continues themes of rebirth and renewal in the face of destruction. The expanse of white tesserae represents a landscape shaped by mankind, a rigid environment of orderly patterns and few irregularities. Moments of damage or loss interrupt the order and from these disruptions emerge vibrant new life. Nature begins to reclaim built surroundings in the form of colorful cut glass, filling the recesses of a ruined building and the scratched surface of an excavation site. A geometric pattern known as asanoha, or hemp leaves, decorates the right side, representing growth, health, and protection from harm.

"Missing Asanoha Pattern and Floating Flower," 2022
Toyoharu Kii (b. 1953)
Marble mosaic and smalti.