Memories come back

Maki-e box "Kyorai" expresses the changes of the sky from darkening at dusk to the dark of night when the crescent moon lights the sea of clouds. On the opposite side the scene changes to dawn, where auspicious clouds are illuminated by the sun.
Inside the box is painted in a brownish red color and a crested ibis flying up to the sky is drawn.

"Kyorai" means memories from the past coming back, or thoughts occurring. I made this piece thinking that looking back over the past in the evening, waking up in the morning in the light of dawn, and looking into the future is a fortunate and precious thing.

Exhibited at The 60th Japan Traditional Kogei Exhibition in 2013

• Dry lacquer

  For works of dry lacquer (kanshitsu), first a clay form is created and plaster is used to take a mold of the form. Next, repeated layers of hemp cloth and lacquer are applied to the mold until they are built up to the desired thickness. Finally, the mold is removed and additional coats of lacquer are applied to finish the piece. The hemp fibers are strengthened when the lacquer bonds with them, making dry lacquer an excellent technique for creating sturdy forms with a significant degree of freedom.

• Maki-e

  Maki-e (literally “sprinkled pictures”) is a representative lacquerware technique that originated in Japan around 1,200 years ago. Maki-e is done by painting lacquer motifs on the surface of a piece using a fine brush and then sprinkling gold powder onto the lacquer before it hardens, producing luxurious decorations.

• Mother-of-pearl inlay (Raden)

  Mother-of-pearl inlay (Raden) is a decorative technique that uses the iridescent inner layer of abalone shell, turban shell, pearl oyster shell, or other mollusk shells. The technique came to Japan from China 1,300 years ago, and pieces featuring mother-of-pearl inlay are included among the artifacts at the Shōsōin Repository in Nara.