“FLOWER HUMAN” is a project to decorate human heads with flowers, regardless of nationality or race. Hikaru Seino, who presides over this project, is one of the floral artists who have attracted worldwide attention, including a show in Spain in collaboration with Antoni Gaudi’s World Heritage works.
Why did he start putting flowers on people’s heads? We asked him to share his thoughts on flowers.
Humans and flowers have chemistry.
People who have experienced FLOWER HUMAN say that they feel as if they have become a clear crystal glass vase, and that they have become curious about flowers blooming on the roadside.
Hikaru: That makes me so happy. I use flowers from season to season, but there is a certain affinity between people and flowers. First, I choose flowers that accentuate the personality of the model based on her character, mood, and occupation. Once the main flower is chosen, we create a three-dimensional effect by interspersing flowers and plants that are less unique than the main flower.
What is especially important in this process is to become a “little fairy” in your mind.
Standing on top of people’s heads as little fairies, I try to express a “little forest” that stimulates my senses and makes me feel excited.
At the same time, however, it is true that every time I look at a flower in my hand, I am puzzled as to what I am doing
Nothing made by human hands can compare to the beauty of nature.
─ Is confusion an emotion similar to hesitation that arises in the creative process?
Hikaru: I guess it is a conflict. I like to use the phrase, “The original is the origin.” The fundamental and absolute beauty of all things is contained in their natural form when they first emerged from the earth and is shared as data in the human brain. So no matter how many breathtaking little natural worlds I sculpt above my head, they will always lose out to the beauty of a single flower blooming on the side of the road or a flower grown by a farmer.
─ Why do you continue to arrange flowers even though you can’t win?
Hikaru: When we are swept away by the busyness of the world, we fail to notice and appreciate the beauty of nature that we take for granted. For me, “FLOWER HUMAN” is not a work of art, but a methods.
It is a “gateway” for people to become interested in nature. I want people to become as if they are sprouting beautiful flowers and be filled with a sense of euphoria. If people directly feel the beauty and power of flowers around them, they will naturally develop an emotional attachment to nature, and as a result, their lives will become more colorful. Rather than being an artist, I see myself as a “messenger” of the mystical power of plants.
Meeting an old man who talked to a tree.
─ I heard that you used to be a punk rocker with a Mohawk head and a studded leather jacket, and that you had nothing to do with nature.
I heard that you used to be a punk rocker with a mohawk and a studded leather jacket.
Hikaru: I admired revolutionaries such as Che Guevara (laughs). But even if I appealed to an inconvenient society through music, no one would smile. My own heart could not catch up with me, and I became a recluse as it was. I spent about a year making telegraph poles in my room. While kneading concrete, the first time I tried to harden it directly by hand and skinned my hands, the second time I poured it into a cylindrical mold and …….
─ What! You are an aggressive hermit in a way.
Seino: I suddenly thought, “It’s not right to benefit from telegraph poles without being grateful. It’s not right (laughs).
I was 23 years old when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck. While the devastation was being reported day after day, I was uncomfortable with the fact that people were not talking about nature itself, such as “Why does nature rage so fiercely? I began to study nature and the earth on my own, and I began to feel a sense of crisis: “Unless we love nature, the future of human beings will not be bright.
─ In the year of the earthquake, you went to Canada by yourself, didn’t you?
Seino: I think it was a few weeks after the earthquake. When I was taking a walk in the park in the morning, I saw an old man with gray hair talking to a tree, saying, “You have grown up.“ At first I thought he was crazy. But gradually, I began to feel that a life that is genuinely moved by nature is happier than a life that is socially successful.
I wanted to convey the importance of coexistence with nature, and with the image of “wilderness” in mind, I grabbed my entire fortune, about thirty thousand yen, and flew to Canada.
─ In Canada, you were an assistant to a fashion show producer.
Hikaru: Yes. I was drumming on the street in Lynn Canyon, when I was approached by a stylish elderly woman. Shetoiu offered a place to sleep under the stairs and free rent. Under the condition that I would help her with her producer’s work. I accepted the offer with a simple “yes.
We often utilized flowers in creating spaces for shows, and gradually realized that flowers, which are all around us, can provide a place to deepen the relationship between humans and nature, so I began working at a florist as well.
I returned to Japan after few years of experience and opened a flower shop in my hometown Sapporo.
If even one more person loves flowers, I’m sure society will come closer to peace.
─So far, more than 50,000 ordinary people around the world have experienced ” FLOWER HUMAN.”
Seino: Our philosophy is “STAND FOR NATURE. I want to Continue to quietly convey the beauty and power of flowers without fighting with anyone.
When I visited countries around the world, I noticed that there is a relationship between the amount of flowers given as gifts and the level of happiness in the heart. Countries with high levels of happiness also have many people who love flowers and give flowers to their loved ones.
In Japan, by contrast, the custom of giving gifts is rarely seen. Giving flowers as gifts is the first step toward creating a country where people can love flowers and, by extension, a peaceful society.
I hope that my project will lead to someone being able to be moved by flowers on the street, or to buy flowers for their loved ones.
Floral Artist HIKARU SEINO
Hikaru Seino is a LA & Tokyo-based floral artist who founded GANON FLORIST in 2013 to delight people through flowers in the modern era.
His vision is to bring innovation to floral art and incorporate more nature into people’s everyday lives.
Hikaru and his team have organized fashion shows abroad and worked on decorations such as Roppongi Hills Mori Building and Kate Moss’s party.
He is also well known throughout Tokyo and the world for producing the HANANINGEN (Flower Human) Project, which he started to create a relationship between people and flowers. Currently, there are over 30 studios in Japan, Bangkok, Sydney, and Taiwan.
