Comments on Award Winners

Ohnishi : Next, I would like Professor Komatsu to give his impressions on the award winners as well as discuss the current trends of Urushi.

Komatsu : This is the 9th exhibition of the Special Symposium for The Ishikawa International Urushi exhibition. In the past several years, Kanazawa also hosted an international exhibition for glassware. This shows that a small city with a population of 400,000 can host two major international art exhibitions. The people of Ishikawa have a strong interest and understanding of arts and crafts. It is no wonder Ishikawa prefecture has three districts that are world-renowned for producing lacquer ware.
Unlike lacquer ware in Wajima and Yamanaka, Kanazawa lacquer ware has a unique history.
It began in the feudal era and developed as Kaga’s Maki-e technique was completed. Based on a long artistic tradition, Ishikawa has held two international exhibitions and has had eight living national treasures. Ishikawa has also had quite a number of members in the Japan Academy of Arts. I am proud of the number of artists active in the Ishikawa community.
I have been a member of the Board of Design Center Ishikawa for a long time. It is unfortunate the number of applicants from Europe this year has declined. I hope the next exhibition will see an increase in the number of applicants from Europe. As Mr. Yamamura mentioned, this year’s exhibition is a collection of many different works.
Each of these works is exceptional in their own way. The artists produced works that held a great balance of design and function. The Grand Prize Winner, LOVE, is small in size but possesses beautiful curves. I particularly like the color combination of vermillion and black. This color combination is extremely poignant. The viewer can feel life and energy out of this work. I was surprised to learn this work was created by Qi Xu, a young Chinese artist, because it had some Japanese characteristics.
The Gold Prize Winner, Sachiko Kuroda’s work is a bold form yet remains quite graceful. This piece is meant to be used for a woman’s hair so it should be light in weight and have a fashionable design. The curve form fits a woman’s hair beautifully. The Maki-e technique is perfectly applied to the work. I think this hair comb has the power to further enhance a woman’s beauty.
One of two Silver Prize Winners is Yuki Nakamura, titled A Piece of Life. She currently studies at the Kanazawa College of Art. She created this work from paper and Urushi. She then applied eggshells, pearls, and gold leaf to the work. It highlights the best characteristics of this material. At first glance this work looks a little uneven, but after closer inspection, one can see a bold quality reminiscent of the Japanese Rimpa School of painting. I hope she will continue experimenting with Urushi and discover new ways in using it in the future. Although the number of applicants has decreased this year, the quality of each work submitted is extremely high. I, as well as the other jurors have learned a lot from the exhibition.