Yoshihiro Suda is a Japanese contemporary artist known for his hyper-realistic sculptures of plants and flowers created in the tradition of Japanese woodcarving. Born in 1969 in Yamanashi prefecture, located at the foot of Mt. Fuji southwest of Tokyo, Suda grew up in an environment rich with natural beauty. His interest in nature grew after he left the countryside and moved to Tokyo in the 1990s.

Yoshihiro Suda
Rose
2003
Painted wood
Courtesy of the artist, D’Amelio Terras, New York, and Gallery Koyanagi, Tokyo

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The Japanese penchant for appreciating nature, materials, details, and small objects is at the core of Suda’s work. His intimately scaled carvings recall the art of netsuke, a small decorative toggle often made of wood, ivory, or other precious materials that was popular during the Edo period (1600–1868) in Japan. Suda’s work is also firmly rooted in the contemporary practice of installation. He strategically places his small sculptures—which might be in the form of a clump of weeds or a single rose—in unexpected places, such as a crack on a wall or a window frame. Suda’s installations transform the way we view his artworks and their surrounding environment.

Yoshihiro Suda
Morning Glory
2007
Painted wood
Installation view at Galeria Fortes Vilaça, Sao Paulo

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This exhibition is Suda’s first solo museum exhibition in New York. For this installation, he has created a new sculpture based on a magnolia blossom he found in Central Park; it is displayed alongside seven pieces of the artist’s choosing from Asia Society’s Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection of traditional Asian art. The installation unites both nature, as a motif in Suda’s work, and culture, as represented by the masterpieces of the Rockefeller Collection. By presenting this new work in a traditional museum setting and surrounded by traditional artworks, Suda refocuses our awareness of the exhibition space. In the artist’s words, “I think art can change our perspective and ways of thinking. It encourages us to see things that we otherwise might miss.”

In Focus is an ongoing series of exhibitions, in which contemporary artists are invited to create new works of art inspired by Asia Society’s Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection.

Miwako Tezuka
Associate Curator
Asia Society Museum

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