Artist of the Month: Macoto Murayama Measuring Inorganic Flora

The Japanese artist Macoto Murayama creates computer generated botanical drawings and models, bringing an ancient tradition of flower illustration into the digital age with the help of cutting edge technology.

He observes natural forms with scientific sharpness and descriptive precision. Murayama starts as a true botanist: he collects a flower, e.g. sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) which he dissects, observes, draws and photographs. However his own model flower is born with the help of the 3D max software for three dimensional graphics, while composition and symbolic indications are created with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop applications. We see here the “Flower of Totalitarian Scientific Conscious:” properly fixed, totally measured, strictly nominated and distinctly shown, overlapped by images of other similar species imitating the eternal cosmic movement of decay and evolution.

The full body of Murayama’s work is called “Inorganic Flora.” It has two major branches, namely “Botanical Diagrams,” large drawings of a particular flower with detailed indications and measurements and “Botech Art,” in which organic form discloses its mechanical elements while flower architectonics reveal its gentle, lively and even sensual nature.

Paradoxically this scientific challenge to measure the universe is one of the sources where the art of Murayama draws its strength of fantasy and scent of romanticism.

Makoto Murayama is the winner of the Asia Digital Award. His current exhibition is on at the Botanical Museum, Berlin. The exhibition is part of a larger project entitled Metamachine with 6 movies by 2 artists (Macoto Murayama and Atsushi Koyama) and 6 DJs/producers that created music for them. The music piece to Murayama’s flamboyant digital imagery is created by Doyeq. Entitled “Wireframe Photosynthesis,” it opens up the hidden worlds of hearing that augment the vision.

Lily Fürstenow-Khositashvili