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Raku Inoue makes beautiful artwork out of plant parts
Learning Objective: Students will subtract fractions with unlike denominators related to the plant parts used in different artwork.
Raku Inoue (All Other Images)
Inoueʼs flamingo, “Staring Bob,” was made from gerbera daisy and rose petals.
One day, Canadian artist Raku Inoue (ee-noh-ooh-eh) noticed rose petals had fallen from a bush in his backyard. Inoue had an idea: He arranged the petals in the shape of a beetle on a piece of paper. He used thin green twigs for its legs.
In the following months, Inoue created more insects using leaves, seeds, flowers, and other plant parts. “Insects have always had a
Inoue took photos of his creations and posted them on social media. Soon, people began noticing his work!
Since then, Inoue has created sculptures of all kinds of animals, from sloths to tigers. To make complex designs, Inoue makes a skeleton out of plastic foam. He covers the skeleton with a layer of a sponge material soaked in water. He sticks the flowers and plant materials into the sponge. This helps keep them fresh for longer.
Alex Tran
Raku Inoue
After he’s done, Inoue races to take photos of his artwork before the plant parts
Photos of Inoue’s animals have appeared in books and magazines, and even on clothes! People interpret his artwork in different ways. For example, some see it as a reminder that we should enjoy and respect nature.
Now You Try It
Use your knowledge of subtracting fractions to answer the questions below.
Inoue uses leaf stems to make ant legs. Theyʼre 1/8 inch wide in the center. At the base, theyʼre 1/4 inch wide. How much wider are the stems at the base than in the center?
To make a mantis, Inoue uses a rose petal that is 3/4 inch long. He also uses a miniature rose petal that is 1/2 inch long. How much longer is the rose petal than the miniature rose petal?
To make a butterfly, Inoue uses white hydrangea petals that are 1/4 inch long and pink hydrangea petals that are 7/8 inch long. How much shorter are the white petals than the pink petals?
Inoue uses twigs that are 2/8 inch thick for each leg of a beetle. He uses twigs that are 3/10 inch thick to make the antennas. How much thinner is a leg than an antenna?