16/09/2014

Kazuhito Takadoi in Elle Decoration - September - October 2014

You might think that studying at the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley would lead to a career linked to gardening, but for Japanese born, Merseyside-based maker Kazuhito Takadoi, it resulted in something very different.

'I remembervisiting National Trust gardens on a trip to England when I was 17,' recalls Takadoi.'I was fascinated by plants and always wanted to study here.' After a stint at the Hokkaido Agricultural and Horticultural College in Sapporo, Japan, that's exactly what he did. Takadoi also completed an Internationa-l Training Program at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, but had no flrm idea ofwhat to do afterwards.

'I grewup on the outskirts of Nagova, which at the time was still quite rural, and just knew that I wanted to do something creative connected with nature.I didn't want to do flower arranging because I thought it would be too restrictive.' So he started making sculptural Christmas cards for friends, using natural materials he'd collected. He then enrolled on a Garden Art and Design degree at Leeds Metropolitan
University. 'It was perfect for me because it was a chance to learn about environmental art.'

In 2003, Takadoi set up his studio (he is also represented by London gallery JaggedArt) and today he uses ornamental grasses, Ieaves and beech twigs to create sculptures and beautifully delicate framed artworks that are made by hand weaving grasses into washi paper. Most of the grasses are grown on an allotment and in his garden, but he also relies on his neighbours.

'I've become quite friendly with a nearby farmer, whose land is surroundedby hawthorn hedges. Before the hedge cutter comes in the spring, he's happy for me to snip all the nice twigs I want, so I go and collect a year's supply.'

Designs are meticulously planned and drawn out on tissue paper before being transferred onto washi paper. The trickiest bit, he explains, is not the grasses breaking (they are flbrous, so fairly strong), but the fact that the washi is too stiff to be folded orbent as it's beingworked on.

Just like the living materials they're made from, Takadoi's artworks alter in appearance over time. 'Red grasses keep their colour, but the green grasses fade to golden, so I take that into account when I'm designing' he says. 'I've just started to use gold leaf, too, which adds another colour dimension to my work.'

Emma Love