Mukuro

A tight, wary half-smile, a hand raised to the cheek, and a ribbon of silver leaf, warmed to gold by the lacquer, that runs across her face like a crack in the surface before slipping out of the frame. Of the three panels, this is the one with an edge.

What sets this panel apart
Background: a stacked-stone pattern (ishizumi) in kijiro urushi, the clear, translucent lacquer that lets the gold glow through. The breath leaving her mouth is drawn in the same pattern, so the lacquer is not only the setting but part of her. Eyes: blue.

A word on Mukuro
If you want a panel with tension in it, this is the one. She is guarded, but not closed. The stone-like pattern gathers around her mouth, as if what she does not say had taken physical form. Rest your eyes on the blue of hers against the warm gold, then step to one side: the lacquer moves with the light, and the picture moves with it. A face like this is made to live with, because it is never quite the same twice.

Natural-patterned art
Natural-patterned art is a new method of expression that combines 100% natural, genuine urushi lacquer with materials other than wood, drawing on techniques cultivated over many years of lacquerware restoration. When lacquer meets metal foil, the pattern that forms during the time the lacquer takes to dry is entirely its own and can never be repeated, so this panel exists in one state only. Patterns of this kind include urushi flowers, bark, shaken and fissured patterns.

How it is made
This is a first collaboration between natural patterns and printed acrylic. After repeated tests of how ink and lacquer behave together, the drawing is printed on an acrylic panel mounted on iron. Lacquer is then applied over the silver leaf and polished, again and again, until the layers give the surface its depth. The translucent, amber lacquer is what turns the silver to gold. Fine details are added by hand with a maki-e brush. Lacquer has been part of Japanese life and culture for over 9,000 years, and overseas the craft is known simply as "japan".

Polishing a lacquered panel by hand: coats of urushi are applied and polished again and again.

Fine detail added with a brush over silver leaf and lacquer.

2022. 60 × 30 cm (artwork). Presented in a slim wooden frame, black on the outside with a fine gold line on the inner edge. A unique work.

Care

• For indoor display only, away from direct sunlight, fire, stoves and air-conditioning vents.
• The lacquer, especially on the back, scratches easily: handle the framed work with care and hang it on a wall free of uneven parts.
• The panel may deform if hung for a very long time.
• Clean gently with a soft cloth such as gauze and lukewarm water with a 1–2% neutral kitchen detergent solution. Do not wipe with a dry towel, glass cleaner, thinner, alcohol or anti-static cleaners.

Please allow around one month after payment before dispatch.