Artist Creates Animal Sculptures From Flower Arrangements

Inspired by the ancient and traditional Japanese art of flower arrangement—Ikebana—Montreal-based artist and photographer Raku Inoue creates colorful portraits of insects and other animals using flowers, twigs, leaves, and stems from his garden.

His ongoing art series "Natura Insects" features a menagerie of lifelike butterflies, beetles, spiders, and even owls that have been crafted from bright and detailed flower arrangements. After Inoue carefully arranges them into floral sculptures, he then photographs them against a white background for a result that looks like display cases seen in natural history museums.