FUJINO Sēichiro is a young, established lacquer artist who resides in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.
He carves wood and creates texture on the surface with lacquer. He innovates traditional techniques and creates new forms of Urushi lacquerware.
Urushi is a material which we can find in East Asia. It is one of the oldest craft materials in Japan (There is a 9000-year-old lacquered accessory found in Hokkaido!), and the craft works are called Nurimono or Shikki. Urushi hardens with moisture; hence, the warm and wet climate Japan is suitable for crafting Urushi. Especially on the Japanese seaside, it has been a significant local production due to the wet winter climate.
Nurimono has been adored in Japanese culture for a long time, and various decoration techniques have been invented. The most well-known are maki-e and inlay, using gold or silver powder or plate: hira-maki-e, taka-maki-e, etc. In architecture, kanshitsu involves making forms with Urushi and textile. Mother-of-pearl inlay, Raden, has also been popular. The beauty of gold stands out on black Urushi base, making it once the most demanded goods from Europe. Such as a well-known Japanese lacquer collection was created Marie Antoinette.
Urushi is a varied yet sensitive material in its expression. Fujino explores both the textures of Urushi lacquer and forms of wood, with a stoic and truthful approach to the materials.
Award
1997 Kanazawa Craft Exhibition,Incentive Award(2002)
2001 Ishikawa Design Exhibition,Kanazawa Mayor Award
2002 Woodcraft Exhibition,Ono-mura,Iwate,Grand Prize
2004 The 45th Japan Crafts Exhibition,Grand Prize
2005 Ishikawa Design Award 2004
Ishikawa International URUSHI Exhibition,Special Prize
2010 Takaoka Crafts Competition 2010,Incentive Award
2013 Contemporary Japanese Tea Ceremony Awards 2013,bronze prize.