Since the 1980s, Koeda Shigeaki has developed a practice that combines both painting and photography. Work on his major series Flowers-between the eyes began in 2003, when he started to develop Lambda prints of colourful and vibrant flowers. The finished series includes 100 Lambda prints representing 100 flowers. He makes each work by setting a flower behind a glass plate and painting it with watercolours. He then lights and photographs the image to be printed as a Lambda print. Fittingly, each artwork is 100 x 100 cm; these large depictions of small flowers therefore make a striking impact on the viewer when exhibited.
Read MoreThe artist was inspired by Edo painter Ito Jakuchu, whose intricate yet innovative 18th century paintings also represent traditional Japanese subjects of flowers and animals. Koeda Shigeaki especially looked to the Hanamaru-zu mural at the Kotohira-gu Shrine, which depicts 201 meticulously rendered flowers in a grid form. Koeda Shigeaki's series of equally sized prints replicates Ito Jakuchu's seriality in illustrating Japanese fauna.
He has also investigated nature through sculpture since 2008, creating intricate ceramic flowers, as well as sculptures of dogs and rabbits. In addition, he has experimented throughout his career with acrylic and silkscreen, as well as acrylic on canvas, to represent flowers, still lifes, and animals.
