Artist Profile
japanese-lacquer
Kohei Ukai
Career
- 1993
- Born in Aichi
- 2016
- Graduated Kanazawa College of Art, Department of Crafts
- 2018
- Graduated Graduate School of Kanazawa College of Art
- 2021
- Graduated Kanazawa Utatsuyama Craft Studio, Ishikawa
Awards Received
- 2014
- Selected for The Ishikawa International Urushi Exhibition 2014
- 2017
- Selected for the Ishikawa International Urushi Exhibition 2017
- 2018
- Received The Award of URUSHI (Japan URUSHI association)
- 2019
- "World of Lacquer - Vessel / Phenomenon" Selected for 2019 Hubei International Triennial of Lacquer Art
- 2019
- Selected for 4th Triennale of KOGEI in Kanazawa
- 2020
- Finalist, LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2020
Exhibition
- 2016
- Personal Exhibition @GALLERY b. TOKYO, Tokyo
- 2019
- "Present Lacquer Expressions vol.2" @Nihonbashi Takashimaya Art Gallery X, Tokyo
- 2021
- Pesonal Exhibition”Merge”@hpgrp GALLERY TOKYO
- 2022
- "MONOZUKURI - die Herstellung von Dingen" @Bayerische Kunstgewerbeverein, Munich, Germany
From the owner
"I feel the claim of wood and make a shape while accepting it."
In the process of Ukai's production, the shape is carved along the grain of the wood without deciding the finished shape. There are times when he feels the moment when the claim of the tree and the intention of the creator are balanced, and at that time, the natural flow seems to move. He also wants to show the process of lacquer swallowing wood, so He doesn't paint everything.
From the production process, he feels respect for wood, which is a representative of the natural world, and lacquer, which has been used in our lives since ancient times.
I may not be the only one who receives a novel energy and some relief nostalgia in Ukai's work at the same time. ArtshopTsukibae Owner, Mayumi Miyanaga