"Clouded VI" Mosaic by Toyoharu Kii

In the series “Clouded,” Toyoharu Kii honors the fullness of life and its continual rebirth. Within each work, white marble tesserae assume abstracted forms, at times jagged and disorderly to convey the unraveling effects of life. These forms embody the burden of change and the clouding of one's pure spirit. Expressing his wish for clarity, the artist surrounds each marble figure with a halo of tiles dusted with 14k gold, representing the soothing balm of heaven in the cycle of rebirth.

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. Monochromatic, abstract, and highly textured, his work highlights the involved and technical art of mosaic making.