This wood and lacquer sculpture is made entirely by hand. To create this work, which is part of Kohei Ukai's Fusions series, he used a chisel and a wedge to make a natural shape emerge from the piece of wood. He then applied multiple layers of lacquer, trying to convey the image of the lacquer enveloping the wood and becoming its protection. For Kohei Ukai, the sense of improvisation and what is created by chance while manipulating the material is very important.
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©UKAI KOHEI
Kohei Ukai
- Lacquerer
- Kanazawa, Japan
- Rising Star
©UKAI KOHEI
The subtle interaction between wood and lacquer
- • Kohei was a finalist of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize in 2020
- • Through his sculptures he aims to communicate beyond words
- • In his works he emphasises the natural form of cut wood
Kohei Ukai is an artist born in 1993, who in just a few years has achieved some very important milestones. In 2020, he became a finalist for the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize and in 2021 he opened his own studio in Kanazawa. After completing a master’s degree in fine art at the Kanazawa College of Art, Kohei had the chance to pursue his apprenticeship and was mentored by renowned craftsmen at the Kanazawa Utatsuyama traditional crafts studio. They helped shape his artistic path. Kohei’s sculptures are inspired by the natural shape that wood acquires when it is cut, and by the symbiotic relationship between lacquer and wood. He expresses this in an innovative way by combining parts of wood covered in lacquer, and parts that reveal the wood’s natural appearance in three-dimensional sculptures.
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Photo: ©OKAMURA Kichiro
Fusion 17-05
Photo: ©OKAMURA Kichiro
Fusion 19-07
This wood and lacquer sculpture is made entirely by hand. To create this work, which is part of Kohei Ukai's Fusions series, he used a chisel and a wedge to make a natural shape emerge from the piece of wood. He then applied multiple layers of lacquer, trying to convey the image of the lacquer enveloping the wood and becoming its protection. For Kohei Ukai, the sense of improvisation and what is created by chance while manipulating the material is very important.
Photo: ©OKAMURA Kichiro
Fusion 21-05
This wood and lacquer sculpture is made entirely by hand. To create this work, which is part of Kohei Ukai's Fusions series, he used a chisel and a wedge to make a natural shape emerge from the piece of wood. He then applied multiple layers of lacquer, trying to convey the image of the lacquer enveloping the wood and becoming its protection. For Kohei Ukai, the sense of improvisation and what is created by chance while manipulating the material is very important.
Photo: ©IKEDA Hiraku
Fusion 21-07
This wood and lacquer sculpture is made entirely by hand. To create this work, which is part of Kohei Ukai's Fusions series, he used a chisel and a wedge to make a natural shape emerge from the piece of wood. He then applied multiple layers of lacquer, trying to convey the image of the lacquer enveloping the wood and becoming its protection. For Kohei Ukai, the sense of improvisation and what is created by chance while manipulating the material is very important.
Photo: ©OKAMURA Kichiro
Fusion 22-04
This wood and lacquer sculpture is made entirely by hand. To create this work, which is part of Kohei Ukai's Fusions series, he used a chisel and a wedge to make a natural shape emerge from the piece of wood. He then applied multiple layers of lacquer, trying to convey the image of the lacquer enveloping the wood and becoming its protection. For Kohei Ukai, the sense of improvisation and what is created by chance while manipulating the material is very important.
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