Saturn

She faces us squarely, calm and unblinking, while a thin ring of light circles her shoulders like the rings of the planet. Silver leaf, warmed to gold by the lacquer, breaks open on either side and fine lines fan outward from her face. The most composed of the three panels.

What sets this panel apart
Background: urushi flowers, blooms of lacquer that open like flowers across the leaf as it dries. Eyes: blue.

A word on Saturn
The quietest of the three, and perhaps the most commanding. She looks straight out, unhurried, with a thin ring of light around her, like the rings of the planet she is named for. Behind her the lacquer has flowered on its own, in a pattern no one could have drawn. Calm in the picture, alive in the surface: that contrast is what makes Saturn a panel you can hang in a living room and still not finish looking at.

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.