Jiro Osuga, Bindweed, 2024, oil on canvas, 43.5 x 29cm
The assumption that humanity should rule over nature as if it were a separate realm doesn’t find the favour it once did. Not only animals, but fungi and trees are recognised for their independent systems of communication. Flowers…? Maybe less so. But not in Jiro Osuga’s world, in which bindweed can constitute a genuine threat, and the death of a flower is to be mourned with the emotion usually reserved for a family member. That humorous and exuberant way of casting a critical eye over myriad aspect of contemporary life is typical of the Tokyo-born, London-based artist. Text by Paul Carely-Kent
