Skip to main content

‘Three Generations of Lacquer Artists: Lai Kao-shan Family Exhibition’

  • Date:2019-01-29
‘Three Generations of Lacquer Artists: Lai Kao-shan Family Exhibition’

As Taiwanese lacquer arts now face a crisis of inheritance, due to the complicated and time-consuming creation process, the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute (NTCRI) has curated a special intergenerational celebration of this timeless craft at its Taipei Branch from Jan. 29 through March 31, aiming to promote lacquer arts as an exquisite and contemporary craft through the introduction of uniquely Taiwanese elements, techniques, and memories.

 

On display will be 33 sets of lacquerware created by three generations of crafts masters of the Lai family — first-generation patriarch Lai Kao-shan (賴高山), a disciple of late Japanese master Yamanaka Tadasu (山中公); second-generation artisans Lai Tso-ming (賴作明) and Lai Ying-hua (賴映華); and the third-generation torchbearer Lai Shin-you (賴信佑). The lacquer works of each generation signify the diversity and creative ingenuity of Taiwan throughout the ages.

 

First-generation patriarch Lai Kao-shan invented the technique of "carved lacquer (堆彩雕漆)," which requires carving on layers of lacquer, and refined the "bodiless lacquer (夾紵漆器脫胎技法)" method, which laminates the body with layers of ramie cloth or silk by using lacquer as an adhesive. Apart from his reverence for traditional craftsmanship, and the elder Lai also used his skills to document Taiwanese sights and scenes, including Sun-Moon Lake and indigenous cultures, in a post-impressionism style reminiscent of his mentor Yamanaka.

 

Second-generation lacquer master Lai Tso-ming has inherited the unaffected and semi-abstract style of his father while pioneering a new art form known as "lacquered pottery (漆陶)," which omits the process of grinding, creating lacquerware that uses less steps and time. Decorative techniques from coating and carving to painting, pasting, and filling-in are then applied to produce the final artwork.

 

Third-generation torchbearer Lai Shin-you is working to bring lacquerware back into daily usage by applying his skills towards making ornaments, appliances, and household utensils such as necklaces, earrings, chopsticks and their holders, bowls, saucers, and tea trays. He hopes that the demand for culturally creative products will also revive the market for lacquer works.

 

Exhibition organizers hope through the perspectives of three generations of the Lai Kao-shan family, visitors will be able to gain a better understanding of and appreciation for the inheritance, development, and contemporary applications of Taiwanese lacquer arts.

 

 

‘Three Generations of Lacquer Artists: Lai Kao-shan Family Exhibition’

  • Date: Jan. 29 - March 31, 2019
  • Venue: NTCRI, Taipei Branch
  • Address: No. 41 Nanhai Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan (ROC)
  • Website: NTCRI, Taipei Branch