How did former Japanese punk rocker Azuma Makoto become a world renown flower artist? It may have its roots in the job that he took at Tokyo’s Ota Flower market to help pay the bills while he was a struggling musician. Today, Makoto is revered for his inventive botanical sculptures exploring the forms, textures and colours of flowers in new and exciting ways. Whether encased in ice, launched into space or photographed underwater, he has pushed the art of flower arranging to the extreme.
With his partner, photographer Shiinoki Shunsuketo, they started their studio JARDIN des FLEURS in 2002. Since then he has produced sculptures and installations throughout the world, from New York to Paris to Hong Kong. “By placing flowers in an extreme situation, such as outer space or a desert,” says Makoto, “I can give them a special beauty by showing them in a way that no one has ever seen them before.” He likes to remind people that flowers, once picked, only live for a maximum of ten days. His work gives audiences a renewed appreciation for the inherent beauty and colours that flowers bring to our lives.
