Lacquer Portraits

Three portraits by wataboku. Each exists once.

Mukuro, Saturn and Hikari began as wataboku’s drawings. They did not stop there. Each was then finished by hand in genuine urushi, the natural lacquer of Japan, over silver leaf. The lacquer turns the silver to gold, and the pattern that forms while it dries cannot be planned or repeated. No second panel will ever look like these.

The three panels

Mukuro: a tight, wary half-smile and a ribbon of leaf running across her face like a crack. The one with an edge.
Background: a stacked-stone pattern (ishizumi) in kijiro urushi, the clear, translucent lacquer. The breath leaving her mouth is drawn in the same pattern. Eyes: blue.

Saturn: calm and unblinking, with a thin ring of light around her shoulders. The most composed.
Background: urushi flowers, blooms of lacquer that open like flowers across the leaf as it dries. Eyes: blue.

Hikari: a glance slipping to the side, the leaf cracked like dry earth behind her. The most intimate.
Background: a fine fissure pattern in kijiro urushi, the cracks laid in on the diagonal. Eyes: blue.

All three look out with blue eyes. What changes is everything behind them: a different lacquer pattern for each panel, formed by the lacquer itself.

Each panel is a unique work, 60 × 30 cm, made in 2022, in a slim wooden frame: black outside, with a fine gold line on the inner edge. €2,500 each, including VAT. Delivery takes around six weeks after payment.

Not a print. A made object.

Most images are finished the moment they are printed. These three are only begun there. The drawing is printed on an acrylic panel mounted on iron, and everything that gives the panel its character happens afterwards, by hand, in lacquer. That is why a photograph on a screen can show you the face, but not the surface. The surface changes with the light and with where you stand, and it is the reason to see one of these in the room.

How a panel is made

1. The drawing. wataboku’s drawing is printed on acrylic and the acrylic is mounted on iron. The face, the line and the tone are fixed here. Everything that follows is built over them.

2. Silver leaf and genuine urushi. Silver leaf is laid, and then 100% natural urushi lacquer is applied over it. Urushi is translucent and amber in tone. It takes in the light around it instead of sitting flat, and it is what turns the silver to gold.

3. Coat, polish, repeat. The lacquer is applied over the leaf and polished by hand, several times over. Each layer adds depth, so the surface looks as if you could look into it.

4. The pattern forms as it dries. When lacquer and silver leaf meet, the pattern that appears during the time the lacquer takes to dry is completely its own. Nobody can steer it, and nobody can reproduce it. This is the moment each panel becomes a one-off.

5. Fine details by hand. Details are added with a maki-e brush, the fine brush used in traditional Japanese lacquer work.

Why urushi

Lacquer has been part of life and culture in Japan for over 9,000 years. It is one of the country’s representative crafts, so closely tied to it that lacquerware is called “japan” overseas. The technique behind these panels grew out of many years of lacquerware restoration. It takes that craft and applies it to materials other than wood. Combining printed acrylic with lacquer was a new step, and the ink and the lacquer were tested against each other again and again before the surface was settled.

The surface can take on very different characters: blooms of lacquer like flowers, bark-like grain, scattered speckles, or fine cracks like dry earth. On every panel the leaf, the lacquer and the drawing meet differently, which is why the three panels, though they come from one series, will never match each other.

Living with a panel

A lacquer panel asks for very little. Hang it indoors, away from direct sunlight, heat sources and the draught of an air conditioner. To clean it, wipe gently with a soft cloth dampened in lukewarm water, with a little neutral dish detergent (1 to 2%) if needed. Please do not wipe it dry, and do not use glass cleaner, alcohol or thinner, which can crack the lacquer. Once or twice a year, check that the fittings are tight.

The details

Artist: wataboku
Year: 2022
Size: 60 × 30 cm (artwork)
Materials: print on acrylic mounted on iron, silver leaf, genuine urushi lacquer, finished with a maki-e brush
Frame: slim wooden frame, black outside with a fine gold line on the inner edge
Edition: a unique work
Price: €2,500 each, including VAT
Delivery: around six weeks after payment

See them in person, or take one home now

The three panels hang at Art Market Budapest, 15–18 October 2026, booth PR303. You can also buy online: choose a panel below and check out. A unique work goes to whoever completes checkout first. If you have a question about a panel, write to contact@tokiol.io.

More about the artist: wataboku