Toshihiko Shibuya's Snow Palette

"Snow Palette-10", Hotel Sapporo Garden Palace

Japanese artist Toshihiko Shibuya is a master of land art. Hokkaido's long winters annually inspire him to engage in dialogue with nature. He has already created 10 installations in the spirit of constructivism in the landscapes of Hokkaido under the general title "Snow Palette" to show how genius nature is able to change the artist's intention.

In winter, there is a lot of precipitation here in the form of fluffy white snow, and in order to add color to the landscape, the artist installs iron discs, squares, rectangles, "bagels" on stands of different heights, painted on both sides with bright, fluorescent colors. From above they are covered with snow, forming simple shapes, and from below, the snow is illuminated by colored highlights reflected from the painted metal. In some places, reflections are mixed, forming kaleidoscopic pictures on a snow-white canvas of snow. In some places, the artist enhances this effect by spraying some paint over the snow.

Toshihiko Shibuya dedicated his "Snow Palette-4" to Mirei Shigemori, a famous Japanese garden designer. Her masterpiece is considered to be the Hojo Garden at the Tofuku Temple in Kyoto, created from moss and stones using a net.

The installation is constantly changing, depending on the amount of snow and ice, lighting conditions that affect the quality of the reflection. In the photos, arranged in chronological order, you can see how the artist's idea was transformed over time, how the figures became more complex, turning from simple hats and "donuts" into Z-shapes and three-tiered "vases" with raspberry, mint, orange "ice cream". How tall structures create waves of color, changing the texture of the landscape. But the main brush in this snowy palette still belongs to nature. It is she who creates sometimes bizarre fantastic figures, plays with reflections, demonstrating the intervention of her elemental forces.

"Snow palette-9", Yard of the main store Rokcatei-Sapporo, 2017

Each creative project of the artist turns the landscape into a winter wonderland, and every day into a new creation. “There is nothing we can do to tame nature,” says Toshihiko Shibuya. - I try not to control nature, but I turn to it so that I can use it wisely. I hope my work will initiate a new approach to thinking about winter art. Everyone tends to hate winter, but if you change your point of view, the future will open up great opportunities for you. I convey the message of art to the snow regions from Sapporo."

Other projects of the artist deserve attention. This is the "Water Palette" in the Sapporo Sculpture Garden, where Toshihiko Shibuya delicately refined Dani Caravan's Path to the Hidden Garden. White circles glide across the pool surface, reflecting colorful highlights of pink, blue and green, which overlap to create a bright flash of color. In the project, everything is subordinated to the magic of the number 7: seven objects are on a waterway 70 meters long, under a structural gate, whose height is 7 meters, and the diameter of each disk is 70 cm.This ecological work of Shibuya combines color, object and movement.

In the same Sculpture Garden, Toshihiko Shibuya created a bizarre installation in November 2014 using an unexpected material - nails to fix carpets. The work touches upon the theme of rebirth, symbiosis, coexistence of nature and man. The “growing garden” is attached to the green moss in the trees in the park, and the white heads of mushroom carnations are painted underneath in bright pink and yellow shades, casting colored shadows. “I think this installation is meant to rediscover nature under our feet.”

The artist states that he will continue to create works of art that resonate with the place where they are presented.