To tamper with something that is beautiful the way it is requires resolve. However, being instinctively drawn to beauty, humans are always willing to take that risk, because we know that the human hand has the power to enhance beauty. Perhaps because God does not give any of us more than one talent, flowers have no way to express themselves other than through their innate beauty, and their existence itself is transient. For that reason, people give "words" to flowers and attempt to endow them with the kind of beauty that calls attention to them during the span of their short lives. Just as a talented makeup artist can bring out the beauty of an already attractive woman or a poet can transform a bright blue sky into a beautiful scene on par with a sunset, flower artist Nicolai Bergmann transforms the ephemeral beauty of flowers into beauty that is eternally imprinted in people's minds.
Hailing from Denmark and first setting foot in Japan 10 years ago, Nicolai Bergman is now without exaggeration the most famous modern flower artist in Japan. People in his home country enjoy flowers in their lives on a deeper level. He states that he had no doubts about his decision at the age of 16 to begin studying flowers as his future profession and reflects that it was just the natural thing to do. After studying flower arrangement for three years at a vocational school, he took some time off to come to Japan for the first time at the age of nineteen to visit an acquaintance of his father who ran a plant wholesale business.
Arriving in Japan for the first time, Nicolai understood neither the cultural differences nor a single word of Japanese. Nevertheless, he says that what appealed to him about the unknown land that he found himself in was that he felt comfortable with the countless challenges that stood before him. He was later introduced to a small flower shop in downtown Tokyo where he was hired and did whatever job he was assigned. "Being tens of thousands of kilometers away from home, I never once thought about trying to get my own way with things," he recalls and says it was through this experience that he learned the concept of forbearance. Being an expressive artist, the Japanese cultural aspect of forbearance may have been particularly hard to accept, but Nicolai chose that path for himself in various situations. His talents slowly blossoming through diligent perseverance, he was also putting down the kind of roots that would establish him as a floral artist.
Three years on, having made considerable strides with the language, he opened his first store in Aoyama-Itchome, Tokyo. It did not take long, after he put forth buds, for the flowers to bloom atop the firmly established roots. Nicolai's unique and delicate color expressions incorporate seasonal and cultural elements from Japan into the refined pageantry of Northern European-style flower arrangement. In no time at all his work attracted fans, and he opened a new store on Kotto-dori. The splendor with which he endowed flowers and the spatial designs he created using flowers at events, hotels and many other venues earned him wide acclaim.
It was right around that time that his flower box idea brought him additional fame. These small boxes packed tight with flowers fill the recipient with joy and surprise. He came up with the idea after receiving a large order for flower arrangements from a client with the request that they not take up space. "I love having challenges forced upon me. It is particularly during times that I'm so busy I don't have time to sleep that I tend to find inspiration," Nicolai says with a carefree smile, "Whenever a problem arises, I feel like I am receiving the next challenge." For Nicolai, small boxes actually hold more possibilities than large ones. By his hands, the flowers within those boxes are given the power to provide joy and surprise to complement their beauty.
A distinctive perspective born out of a fusion between Japanese and Western sensibilities can be seen within Nicolai's creations in everything from the design to the colors and presentation. There is a wonderful harmony in them between the lines, movement, depth and delicateness that characterize Japanese flower arrangement and the pageantry of Western flower arrangement that highlights the ornamental, creating an irresistible attraction for the eyes. He explains, "My desire is always to create works that have strong appeal by leaving a first impression of being pretty, cute or refined but then at the same time being something that can bring a sense of surprise on the second or third look." He says that he likes to hear what his clients want as he pursues his own style. "Here, too, the customer's impossible demands present me with a big opportunity." The exacting demands of his clients do not hold back his creativity; instead they are the blessed rain that brings fresh new value to his creations.
Many a company has been fascinated by his creations as well, and through collaborations and other projects he has been involved with designing traditional Japanese lacquer ware and even shoes. Recently he opened Nicolai Bergmann Sumu, an interior design and lifestyle store in Tokyo Midtown. The theme is "100% Denmark," and he is blazing new trails with furniture and accessories featuring Danish artisanship and products he has designed himself as well as practical and stylish home interior products.
Nicolai has also been the subject of international acclaim, receiving awards and recognition overseas. On June 26 of this year he will open up his first overseas store in his home country of Denmark. It is in a prime location inside the flagship store of Royal Copenhagen, an established brand of porcelain, but more than that it is attracting a great deal of attention as people wonder what kind of impression his flowers, inspired by both Japanese and Western sensibilities, will leave on the people of Denmark. "In two or three years I'd like to have flagship stores all over the world. I'm not going to force it, though. I'm just going to keep taking up new challenges based on 'flowers and design' while carefully maintaining what I already have, and being careful not to let quality suffer."
For Nicolai, it is all about attuning himself to the silent language of the flowers and expressing it more beautifully than anyone else These flowers, given new powers of expression by him, form bridges over space, time and between people's hearts, creating a story of their own. As water and words grow beautiful flowers, so the beautiful flowers arranged by Nicolai enrich people's lives. Today as ever before, flowers speak to us through their beauty, in Japan, the world and from within these small boxes.
