Chinese Name: 梁晊瑋
Born: 1971
Place of Birth: Nantou County (Central Taiwan)
Did You Know That…?
Liang is the only Taiwanese artist to have been selected for the Ishikawa International Urushi Exhibition four times.
Born in Puli Township (埔里鎮), Nantou County (南投縣) in 1971, Liang Chih-wei moved to Taiping District (太平區), Taichung City with his mother when he was eight. His parents, who worked as art educators, played an important role in his life, sparking his interest in art at a young age. Liang first came into contact with lacquer art when he was refurbishing an antique birdcage. As he was repainting the cage, he was captivated by the unique scent and color of lacquer paint, and then decided to acquire a knowledge of lacquer art.
One day, while buying lacquer at a shop in Puli, Liang was introduced by the store owner to Lai Kao-shan (賴高山), a renowned lacquer artist. In 1999, Liang began to learn the techniques of lacquer painting in his free time under master Lai and his son Lai Zuo-ming (賴作明). Liang eventually made up his mind to quit his full-time job in 2001 to pursue the art of lacquer painting. This was not an easy decision for him, but he never gave up his artistic pursuit. Due to his perseverance, Liang has created numerous award-winning art pieces. In 2008, the artist opened up his own art studio in Taichung.
Liang’s profession as a lacquer artist led him to enter the world of guqin (古琴), a traditional seven-string Chinese musical instrument in which lacquer plays significant part in its construction. Hence, Liang started to study the craft of guqin making, and finished his first piece in 2008. To improve the sound quality of his guqin, Liang spent eight years traveling around China, Vietnam, and Japan to do research on lacquer, learning and experimenting with different lacquer processing techniques.
In 2013, Liang became an artist-in-residence at National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute (NTCRI) in Caotun Township (草屯鎮), Nantou. During his stay at NTCRI, he combined the craft of lacquerware and tea culture, for which Nantou is famous, creating unique tea sets to showcase Taiwan’s tea art. Liang believes that arts and crafts, as a fundamental part of everyday life, are an extension of human existence. Taking inspiration from his daily life and nature, the artist usually presents his artworks with his vivid depiction of plants and animals.
Liang has developed his own artistic style, transforming lacquer art from the production of traditional utensils to the creation of innovative irregular-shaped objects. The artist hopes there will be more inventive ways to popularize lacquer art. In recent years, Liang has focused on making the guqin. Through his specialization in lacquer art and his undiminished enthusiasm for guqin making, Liang is expected to pass down his superb craftsmanship to the next generation.