azuma makoto submerges intricate botanical sculpture in the clear waters of japan

Azuma Makoto Installs floral sculpture in Japanese waters

Over the course of his career, Japanese botanical artist Azuma Makoto has created works that bring flowers to the spotlight, transporting them to locations and situations that expand beyond the natural world’s limitations. Makoto has already launched flower bouquets into space, preserved bonsai trees inside futuristic ecospheres, and set floral installations against frozen, snowy landscapes. In his latest project, the artist set an intricate botanical sculpture in the waters of Ishigaki island, Okinawa, Japan, submerging flowers into the abyss of the deep sea for the second time. 

all images courtesy of Azuma Makoto

vivid flowers popping through the clear blue water

This latest project emerges as a kind of mixture between Makoto’s intricate botanical sculptures, and his ‘In Bloom’ project, where he sets flowers and plants where they cannot normally survive. The new work was installed in the waters of Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Japan, with the help of local divers and fishermen. 

The new sculpture consists of various flowers and plants whose bright colors shimmer through the clear blue pool-like water. To create this installation, Azuma Makoto tied many bouquets of flowers to the base structure, but soon discovered that it was difficult to secure the plants and work against buoyancy underwater. Eventually, the artist and his team found that the flowers could be freely shaped and flexible with the swell or ocean currents under water pressure without fading their bright, beautiful colors.