Bonsai trees are beautiful, but most require a very dedicated person to tend to their needs – unless they’re made of Legos. Artist Azuma Makoto has not only created a bonsai made of these distinctive colored blocks, but also a ‘water bonsai’ that seems to flourish despite being submerged in an aquarium.
With ‘Lego Pine’, Makoto manages to capture the shape of a bonsai tree with an incredibly intricate Lego sculpture. Makoto’s familiarity with bonsai is clear in this masterful reproduction, which features branches that seem impossibly thin and delicate.
‘Water and Bonsai’ is a fully glazed aquarium containing what appears, at first glance, to be a real bonsai tree. Look closer, however, and you’ll see that it’s a trunk-shaped piece of deadwood with java moss attached to it to resemble leaves. The moss is kept alive with a filtration system and LED lights.
Makoto is known for stunning botanical sculptures that showcase the beauty and complexity of the plant world. He runs a high-fashion flower shop called JARDIN des FLEURS in Tokyo. See more of his works at his website, AzumaMakoto.com.
