Ikebana |
Floral 3d puzzle

2020

2020 Design for Rijksstudio award

Concept

Make flowers alive

Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement and can be translated to “making flowers alive”. The floral composition painted by Eelke Jelles Eelkema has a vivid aesthetic which gave Erco Lai the idea that it could be astonishing to bring the flower painting to life using the technique of Ikebana. Thus, he dismantled the painting into different shapes and added small slots, with which it is possible to join the parts back together like a 3D puzzle.

There is no right or wrong way to complete this puzzle. Instead, everyone can freely decide how to arrange the floral-shaped pieces which are also the attempt in Ikebana. To use the whole painting wisely, he started by cutting out shapes from the flowers in the center and worked my way to the border, in which the background has a remarkable texture.

Details

Inspiration

Still Life with Flowers, the painting of Eelke Jelles Eelkema. Furthermore, this concept of 3d puzzle can also apply to other paintings with flowers and make a series of products, like another painting of Eelke Jelles Eekema as well and the painting of Balthasar van der Ast. It can be produced as a souvenir with die cutting or as an online service with an algorithm for users customizing shapes and downloading layout.