Kan Asakura
TRANSITIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS
March 7 – April 9, 2023
Beautiful, lively sculptural art of cherry blossoms “sakura” welcomes you at THE GALLERY!
This special exhibition, “Transitions and Transformations,” brings together the artworks of Kan Asakura, an internationally renowned ikebana/floral designer in the world of Fine Arts in New York. Based on his art of ikebana, or “flower arrangement,” Asakura creates artistic, sculptural installations of flowers, integrating Western and traditional Japanese styles of nature. His artworks in this exhibition not only show the boundaries of the seasonal changes from Winter to Spring, but also explore the boundaries between the personal and the natural dimensions, physicality and immateriality, the natural and the man-made, and the traditional and the contemporary. With a show of cherry blossom craft, for example, Asakura’s art brings us into a world displaying “time and its transience,” illuminating the cyclical characteristic of nature in its transitions and transformations.
“We can certainly find a joyous time within the boundaries between the various changes of the seasons. I believe that plants are essential in manifesting expressions of the changing seasons in their transient nature. Such transience can be easily found in something simple or in what could be seen anywhere in our daily life.”
– Kan Asakura
About the Artist
Kan Asakura
Kan Asakura of Kan Asakura Design was born in Kyoto, Japan, where he trained in ikebana/ floral design with ikebana master Kounansai Saeki and his father, Koujiro Asakura—renowned florist in the fine art industry in Osaka. His creations integrate Western style and Japanese traditional style with nature. Kan’s work can be seen at several Japanese restaurants and galleries in NYC, including at Kajitsu. He has also collaborated with other artists, including Camille Henrot for Frieze New York in March 2020. Kan Asakura Design provides floral design services for private clients, art galleries, and restaurants in the NYC area and beyond.