Satoshi Kawamoto

Green Fingers Market

Flower designer

©Eisuke Komatsubara

©Andrew Urwin

Plants in fashion

Satoshi is a self-taught plant artist
He creates beautiful interiors using plants as decorative objects
His motto is “The garden was not built in a day”

Tokyo-born Satoshi Kawamoto describes himself as a self-taught plant artist. For the last 20 years, mixing floristry, design and fashion, he has been creating extraordinary interiors by using plants as decorative objects. He collaborates with international brands and recently opened his flagship Green Fingers Market shop in Milan and New York. When asked about one of the most memorable moments in his career, he recalls a very simple episode during Milan Salone del Mobile in 2019, "I was holding an exhibition there, called 'Life and Death'. A woman came in three times, first on her own, then with her two daughters. It was touching to witness the amazement on the mother’s face and then, shortly after, the identical reaction from both girls." He should be used to these emotive responses though, as his creations are so striking that it’s impossible to be unmoved.

Interview

©Eisuke Komatsubara

©Eisuke Komatsubara

When and how did you begin working with flowers?: My fascination with plants began when I was a child, watching my grandmother tend her modest urban garden with infinite care and tenderness. My career was not a direct journey, first I worked as a fitness trainer in Tokyo. It was a few years later that I obtained a job at a local interior store that my path changed.
Was this experience important to your artistic path?: Absolutely. I gained some invaluable insight working with interior furnishings, I started blending plants with antiques. I started to slowly develop my own typography in the world of interior spaces. One that defied convention and eventually became my signature style.
Which are the features of a well done arrangement?: Colour coordination, textures, balance and harmony. Since I mostly work with fresh materials, I’ve developed a very accurate sense of how they change over time, which means I can exhibit the beauty of slow drying plants as well as fresh growing ones.
What does your motto “The garden was not built in a day” mean?: It means that nothing is ever complete, as long as there’s room for growth. That is also true for my artistic work. Japanese heritage and botanical traditions have played a major role in it, but I’m always experimenting and innovating by stretching the boundaries of my artistic field.

Satoshi Kawamoto is an expert artisan: he began his career in 1997