Contemporary Japanese Lacquer

Since its opening in 2003, KEIKO Gallery in Boston has featured works of art which make use of urushi (Japanese laquer).

The lacquer medium is created from the raw sap of the Japanese urushi tree (t. verniciflua), and is then filtered and colored before application. Urushi has been an important medium in Japan since ancient times. In the year 2000, lacquer jewelry over 9000 years old was unearthed in Hokkaido—among the oldest examples yet found. However, it is believed that even in the prehistoric era lacquer was used as a strengthening and bonding agent as well as for decoration and water-proofing ceramics and wood.

Traditional Japanese lacquer ware customarily has dozens of layers of lacquer applied over a period of months, and each of the final layers are polished, giving the finished piece strength and a beautiful gloss. Conventionally, there can be as many as 50 different steps in the completion of a single lacquer bowl or box.

Though wood is the most common basis of lacquered objects, in Japan it has been applied to a wide variety of materials, including metals, textiles and woodblock prints.

In producing early Buddhist sculpture in Japan, urushi was mixed with ground fired and unfired clays and applied over a molded form comprised of layers of hemp cloth to form complex figures. This process, known in Japan as kanshitsu, is now being employed by contemporary Japanese lacquer artist to create sculptural forms, often on a surprisingly large scale. The work of modern Kyoto pioneer, KURIMOTO Natsuki, has made extensive use of this technique in his large scale sculptures and installations. Many pieces which KEIKO Gallery introduces employ this ancient technique of kanshitsu.

Japan is a humid country— an ideal environment for lacquering and for longevity of wood-based lacquered objects. However, when wood based lacquer ware made in Japan is taken to a drier climate, the wood frequently warps and shrinks, causing cracks to appear in the lacquer surface. Kanshitsu alleviates this problem, and additionally gives the artist a great deal of freedom as to the shape and size of their objects as well as complexity of design.

The Japanese arts of ceramic, weaving, dyeing and lacquer have long been highly prized worldwide. However, while ceramic and textile cultures underwent a modernizing transformation in the late 1950’s and 1960’s, the contemporary lacquer movement has developed more slowly and did not begin to flourish until the 1980’s. FUJITA Toshiaki, KURIMOTO Natsuki and TANAKA Nobuyuki, have been leaders in this exciting movement. In addition to these three artists, KEIKO Gallery features Sasai Fumie, perhaps today’s best known female lacquer artist, new emerging lacquer artists, IGAWA Takeshi, SOMEYA Satoshi, YOSHINO Takamasa, ISHIZUKA Genta, SANO Akira, HASEGAWA Ayako and the works of the SAKAMOTO Rie and Madoka, all of whom have contributed significantly not only to reviving this ancient technique but also to establishing it in the forefront of contemporary Japanese art.

As Japanese lifestyles change and move away from tradition, so, too have lacquer chopsticks, tableware and furniture become less common in the average home. Also, the number of people involved in traditional lacquer studios has also decreased over time. However, inspired by the innovative works of FUJITA, KURIMOTO, TANAKA, and other contemporary lacquer artists, in recent years there has been an encouraging increase in the number of young people studying lacquer, as well as in art schools that offer training in this medium.

Though perhaps there has been limited familiarity with lacquer ware in western countries, it may be a quintessential Japanese tradition where ‘wood is returned to wood,’ reflecting the persistence of nature in the art and aesthetics of Japan. Today young Japanese artists have embraced lacquer not only as a legacy of ancient tradition but also as a medium through which to express their individual modern Japanese identities, ideas and sensibilities. Those of us at KEIKO Gallery believe that it is a timely opportunity to introduce many people to the beauty of contemporary Japanese lacquer art and the innovative concepts of some of the finest lacquer artists.

William Thrasher
Keiko Fukai