Box with geometrical design in urushi carving and inlay.

About the Artwork

I used the urushi carving and inlay technique that I have been using in my recent artwork and expressed Arabic geometrical patterns in a modern style. Additional to the urushi carving, I used the kinma technique to make the patterns. I sliced the carved urushi lacquered wood, lacquered with layers of white, vermilion and green urushi, into a thickness of 1.5 mm and pasted them together. After applying inlays to the base, I expressed the arabic patterns with black lacquer using the kinma technique. In the middle of the patterns, I inlayed white and black pearl oysters.
With the contrast of urushi carving and black lacquer, I think I was able to create an intricate design. For the three tiered vessels inside the box, I used black lacquer on maple wood and finished it with wiped urushi.
I took part in an event in Abu Dhabi last year and experienced the difference of various cultures. I saw the marble arabesque patterns on the walls, ceilings and floors of the mosques while imagining the culture flowing into Japan through the silk road long ago. I tried to express the image of the arabesque patterns using black urushi, color urushi, thick shells and the wood grain of maple wood.

Description

• Category
  Lacquerware
• Materials
  Kiso cypress, hemp cloth, urushi lacquer, white pearl oysters, black pearl oysters
• Dimensions
  H 23.0 x W 29.0 x D 14.0 cm
• Year of creation
  2020
• Rarity
  Unique
• Artist Signature
  Signed

Selected exhibitions

• The 67th Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition (2020)
• Selected