When Azuma Makoto first moved to Tokyo in 1997, his aspirations lay more in rock music rather than in the floral arrangements for which he is known today. It was only while working part-time in a flower shop that he discovered what he calls the “common points between music and plants,” dramatically altering the course of his creative career.
Now, Makoto has cemented himself as one of the world’s most astute and ambitious floral artists, creating dramatic arrangements in a vast array of global environments. Whether perched on a golden beach, trapped in blocks of ice, or sailing across the ocean, Makoto’s work constantly tests the boundaries of how—and where—flowers may thrive.
“Flowers possess the resilience and adaptability to have existed on Earth since ancient times—sometimes demonstrating a strength far greater than that of humans,” Makoto tells My Modern Met.
Throughout his career, Makoto has developed a penchant for “placing flowers in spaces where they would never naturally exist.” For his In Bloom series, he has hurtled massive arrangements into the ocean, allowing them to sink to the bottom. He’s even launched decadent bouquets into space.
“In the stratosphere, flowers freeze in temperatures as low as -60°C (about -76°F). However, since they ascend gradually, their colors remain vivid, and they do not appear frozen at all,” he explains.
As for the arrangement that crept along the ocean floor, the flowers didn’t break nor collapse, even at a depth of 1,000 meters (about 3,281 feet). Instead, Makoto says, they “gracefully surrendered to the ocean’s flow, maintaining their elegant form.”
“Even fish must adapt to extreme pressure and currents [at this depth],” he adds.
Most recently, Makoto descended upon the frostier landscapes of Hokkaido, the northernmost tip of Japan’s main islands. There, he left an astonishing flush of flowers to confront the icy air. Over several days, the delicate petals and stems gradually succumbed to the cold, freezing into colorful icicles that almost resemble a string of gems or beads. From afar, the flowers seem to buckle against their weight, in a permanent state of suspended movement.
“There are different stages of life in each plant,” Makoto says. “Sprouts, buds, followed by the appearance of floral stems and the blooming of flowers until they decay. Each moment differentiates from the other, beautiful and precious.”
Indeed, this philosophy guides ikebana, the Japanese art of arranging flowers from which Makoto derives inspiration. While working at the flower shop, he encountered countless ikebana arrangements, eventually leading him to fully delve into the flower industry in 2002. By 2009, he’d established his experimental botanical lab, Azuma Makoto Kaju Kenkyusho (AMKK), where he began constructing his innovative floral designs. Each artwork explodes with grace, vibrancy, and precision, revealing the depth and endurance of Makoto’s fascination with flowers.
“My passion lies in the plants themselves,” he muses. “As long as I am interacting with them my passion will never fade away.”
To learn more about the artist and his practice, visit Azuma Makoto’s website.
Japanese artist Azuma Makoto creates floral arrangements in a range of unexpected contexts: the bottom of the ocean, frozen landscapes, and even space.
Makoto’s meticulous arrangements not only embrace their surrounding environment but showcase the resilience and fragile beauty of flowers.
Whether trapped in blocks of ice or sailing across the ocean, Makoto’s work constantly tests the boundaries of how—and where—flowers may thrive.
