Colourful flutters and 3D marquetry
- Toru creates life-sized insect sculptures in wood
- He uses wood's natural colours and textures to create the motifs
- His pieces are inspired by people's emotional connection to insects
Toru Fukuda is a contemporary craftsman specialising in three-dimensional wood marquetry. By reimagining this traditional technique as a form of sculpture, he gives body to highly detailed, life-sized insects using wood. "Insects are at the heart of my work because they are familiar to everyone and often tied to personal memories or emotions – they may bring back memories of a specific season, a moment in time or a childhood experience," Toru says. He is drawn to insects' unique, quiet power to make people feel something. Each work begins with a real insect, carefully collected from nature. Through close observation, he studies its form and translates it into wood, sometimes using fragments as small as 0.3 millimetres. He uses no artificial colouring, allowing the natural colours and textures of the wood to speak for themselves.
Interview
- What were your early experiences with creativity?
- When I was in elementary school, I loved creating original origami pieces. I would fold animals and insects from a single sheet of paper – my dream was to become an origami designer. My training in understanding three-dimensional form started there.
- How did you get into wood marquetry?
- In my first year at an art-focused high school, I was drawn to the colours of the wood scraps in the studio. I began experimenting with ways to 'draw' using the small pieces, and that is when my teacher told me that the technique I was exploring was called marquetry.
- What is your favourite part of the crafting process?
- I love every step for different reasons. I enjoy the initial stages, when all my ideas are still conceptual. Once I start sculpting, I get excited with the work that is quickly taking shape. Later, as I focus on the details, I find joy in watching my piece gradually come to life.
- Is wood marquetry in danger of extinction?
- In the traditional sense, I believe that wood marquetry became extinct years ago. However, by bringing new perspectives to the techniques, we can give this craft a future that would have been non-existent otherwise. In my practice, I call the approach I take 'the three-dimensional wood inlay'.
Toru Fukuda is a rising star: he began his career in 2019
