by OKADA Yuji (Shiho) (b.1939)
Heisei Period, 2016
Dry lacquer, kanshitsu, mother-of-pearl, yogai, inlays
61 x 31 x 6 (h) cm
Signed. Signed and sealed tomobako
Okada Yuji is widely acknowledged as one of the leading lacquer artists of his generation. This major work of brilliant, shimmering, iridescence epitomises Okada’s long held empathy for the beauty of natural shell. He works with New Zealand abalone shells, selecting only those that exhibit an energy that can be worked into his singular design vision. In this piece, thousands of delicate strips have been fashioned for inlay onto the simple, curling, dry-lacquer base. The result is an intensive panel of pure, diagonal, banded colours with a rich palette of greens, pinks and purples. Their rhythm is reinforced by separating bands of black lacquer with inlays of gold disks. The overall effect is hypnotic – achieved through painstaking traditional craftsmanship to create a work of an entirely contemporary aesthetic. The edges of the tray are bound with white mother-of-pearl, while the back is black lacquer with a sprinkling of gold and a central golden signature.
Okada Yuji graduated with First Class Honours in lacquer work from Kyoto’s Fine Arts and Crafts School in 1967. Since 1970 his award-winning work has been regularly exhibited nationally at the Nitten and Nihon Gendai Bijutsu Ten (Japan Contemporary Fine Arts Exhibition), in addition to regional exhibitions in Korea and China. In 2006 he founded the Kyoto Lacquer Art Restoration and Research Institute (Kyoto Shitsugei Shufuku Kenkyujo).
In the West, examples of his work are held in the collections of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts MN, the Metropolitan Museum of Art NY, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston MA, Denver Art Museum CO, the Philadelphia Museum of Art PA, and the New Orleans Museum of Art LA.
This work was shown at Creation of Beauty – the 70th Year Anniversary Exhibition of the Kyoto Kogei Association, Museum of Kyoto, 2016