LONDON.- Erskine, Hall & Coe is presenting the first European exhibition of lacquer works by Japanese artist, Genta Ishizuka. This will be open from the 21st of February through the 22nd of March.

Born in Kyoto in 1982, Ishizuka currently lives and works in Kyoto City. He earned a BFA from Kyoto City University of Arts, during which time he participated in an exchange program at the Royal College of Art, London in 2006. Most recently, he graduated with a MFA in Urushi Lacquering from Kyoto City University of Arts in 2008.

Speaking of the meaning behind the title of his exhibition, Ishizuka explains: I believe “membrane” is a word that is connected to both my production method that utilizes elastic cloth, as well as the sense of envelopment given by applying the urushi, in the way it covers the whole work like a skin. This word that is used with animals, plants and other organisms also has an affinity with the organic material of urushi, and can mean a kind of skin, connoting physicality.

Following several solo exhibitions in Kyoto and Osaka, Ishizuka’s work has received international recognition and awards, and is included in the permanent collections of the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

A catalogue accompanying this exhibition includes an essay by Rupert Faulkner, Senior Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

ARTIST STATEMENT
Urushi is a fluid that comes from the sap of a tree. Once it is hardened and polished, its surface becomes transparent and brilliant. I have made this a primary material in my work, as I am fascinated by the depth and allure of the transparency that can be perceived from its ‘glossiness’ which lies within the membrane of the urushi covering the entirety of the work. I have tried to give befitting forms to this material in order to create works that, by their own nature possess this gloss.

I made the works in this exhibition by wrapping styrene foam balls in an elastic fabric, creating three-dimensional curved surfaces that were then finished with urushi lacquer using the kanshitsu-technique. With the kanshitsu-technique, linen is bonded to the foundation and hardened with urushi to form the base that is then lacquered over. This is a sculptural technique that originated between the 7th and 8th centuries in Japan for the purpose of creating Buddhist statues. I was inspired to make these works when I saw oranges being sold in mesh bags at the supermarket. The oranges and the netting created a single form by way of the relationship between its interior and exterior, and I wanted to incorporate this relationship into my work. By incorporating a heteronomous agency into the formation of the work, I believed it would bring forth an inevitable expression of the urushi.

Because urushi is a fluid, it cannot hold its form alone. It requires a foundational form called tai.1 The coating applied to the work’s surface has only the slightest thickness, so the tai and this membrane are formed through a reciprocal relationship. This relationship, with technique and process, creates a connection from the interior to the exterior, influencing the appearance of the material on the surface. The work, which I polish for a long time by hand, connotes a sense of physicality, leading to an organic, intimate association between material, artist and artwork.

How does the tactility of the urushi react to an environment once it leaves the hands of the artist? Within the relative relationship between the viewer, artwork and space, I work to seek out the most befitting presence for the work.


1 The Chinese character “胎” (tai) can also mean “origin” or “womb; an unborn child.”