Ikebana + Digital

This work emerges at the intersection of two practices that define what I do and who I am becoming: digital art and ikebana. Having studied and practiced at the Ikenobo school, ikebana has become over the past five years an unexpected but essential part of my creative life. Bringing it into dialogue with technology, and projection mapping in particular, felt like a natural, if long-considered, step.

The goal is not to overwhelm the flowers with animation, but to enhance their inherent beauty. Ikebana already carries movement within it, expressed through the position, orientation and direction of each element. Here, projected animation introduces another layer of motion, one that remains restrained, subtly guiding the eye toward specific elements without disturbing the balance between the organic and the digital.

Alongside projection mapping, lighting is as much a part of the work as the animation itself, shaping the mood and aesthetic quality of each piece. One technical challenge lies in aligning the projected content with the flowers precisely, particularly along the delicate lines of the stems. Another one is that ikebana itself resists photography: it lives in three-dimensional space, with multiple points of interest rarely sharing the same focal plane. Each piece presents its own set of challenges to solve.