Stepping into Shota Suzuki's studio, one immediately gets a whiff of brassy metal.
The space, small and humble, contains all the materials the artist works with on a daily basis.
Bins of silver petals sit together, bathing in polishing solvent line the space, anticipating their removal and finish.
The artist, meticulous and focused, goes to work in his work bench. He uses a hammer and thin pieces of finely crafted copper, titanium, and others to construct intricate sculptures inspired by nature.
Shota Suzuki's plants are not ones you would regularily find at a flower shop. He is interested in the plants we find and encounter everyday - dandelions creeping through the gaps in concrete, brown and red leaves falling into the street, and stray vines crawling across stone walls. Suzuki celebrates the serendipitous moments of nature, transforming them into precious sculptures, freezing a moment of nature and capturing time.
Shota Suzuki, Blowing Ginkgo, 2018 (SS_2020_06)
Suzuki spends time with the flowers that he makes. Every petal and leaf are constructed individually by the artist's hand. He spends hours incising with his tools, every ridge and curve of the leaves and petals and slowly the entire plant is constructed.
Shota Suzuki, Cherry Blossoms, 2020 (B20842K)
After their intitial construction, these pieces are soaked in a polishing solution that brightens the natural tarnish of the metal. The piece is then removed and Suzuki uses pigments and fine copper powders to add details and shadows to each piece. With the materials, the artist adds a layer of color, mimicking the natural weathering of plants.
With such great consideration of material, construction, and attention to detail, Suzuki's works are one of a kind, just like how every flower that sprouts from the earth is singular and unique.
Shota Suzuki, Dandelion Fluff, 2020 (B21516)
