Nagatoshi OHNISHI

Once again, we have received submissions from Urushi lovers from around the world. To be perfectly frank, my first impression during the Final Assessment was a feeling that we have exhausted current possibilities; a sense that while the works are diverse, they have all reached a similar plateau. While it is a positive sign that the overall standard has improved, there is a feeling that although forms and expressions vary, they are somehow influencing one another.

We live in an age where information is easily accessible, for better or worse. To bestow an award, there must be a specific significance behind the selection. A work must present something strikingly different. Of course, I am not referring merely to eccentricity. While novelty catches the eye and can be a factor in a work being chosen as a representative piece, this is, in a way, an inherent limitation of open-entry exhibitions.

In the Grand Prize-winning work, the structural elements are utilized to fascinating effect. I admire its uninhibited freedom of expression the way it unfolds while simultaneously condensing a vast space, appearing expansive and unconstrained. At the same time, I sensed a certain slightness, or perhaps an ephemerality. It is, perhaps, too impeccably composed. It needs to be more unwavering; I believe it could benefit from elements that almost “betray” the expected nature of bamboo. I look forward to the artist’s further evolution.

It is not enough to merely draw out the steadfast qualities of Urushi; we must also continue to discover its ever-changing facets. For “technique” to truly flourish, it must be supported by a sense of narrative, poetry, or philosophy something essential to that specific work and its setting. One must ask: can you see the world through the work? What remains after viewing it? Something vital must remain. As an exhibition, I hope that it will leave something of great importance behind within the context of our era.

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