Chongqing - “Chinese lacquer became an overnight sensation with the returning video of Li Ziqi, China's top vlogger, after a three-year hiatus. Spotlighted in cyberspace, the 8,000-year-old art remains niche in real life,” said Yang Xuehe, a craftsman who believes the best way to preserve this ancient art is to bring it into everyday life.
Yang Xuehe is making lacquerware. (photo provided by the interviewee)
Lacquer is a natural surface coating material that protects objects with its pest-proof, water-proof, and anticorrosive features. The lacquerware technique is a time-consuming work that decoratively covers objects such as bamboo and wood with lacquer.
“Lacquer dries very slowly and is sensitive to humidity as well as temperature in the process,” Yang said, who spends months or even years to complete a lacquer piece. Making lacquerware is a complex but calming process, and the sense of achievement is overwhelming when it is done. He recalled why he was attracted to this art form as an art-majoring undergraduate 14 years ago.
“Plus, lacquer is a very nice material, which is inclusive and highly malleable, ” Yang said. Lacquer-painted items can maintain their natural texture and imaginatively serve their purposes. With lacquer, a tangerine peel can serve as a censer with the fruit scent and appearance well-preserved; rice paper can be used as a vase with natural wrinkles.
Among the lacquerware collection in his home studio located in Chongqing Liangjiang New Area, Yang holds a luffa-turned-vase to his heart. “That luffa was seeded when my wife and I bought the house; it ripened and started rotting during decoration, so I decided to lacquer-paint it as a witness of how we turned the space into our home,” Yang recalled.
Part of Yang's lacquerware collection is displayed on the shelf. (Photo/Zhang Yangyang)
Lacquer preserves what holds sentimental value for you, and the item will become part of your story over time. "We can’t capture time, but lacquerware can," Yang said.
Practicality prevails in his design and manufacturing of lacquerware. This spirit is reflected by the lid rest, which he created for the tea ceremony, a popular one among his customers.
Using luffa fiber as the core material, Yang painted it with lacquer so the soft fiber is sturdy enough to hold the lid. Meanwhile, the lacquer coat is made thin enough to keep the natural texture because a rough surface is more user-friendly than a shiny, smooth lid rest, which easily sticks on the lid.
The beauty of craftsmanship can only be maximized when properly used. If your technique serves your design right and makes your products well-received, your customers may get interested in the materials, he explained.
"It is good that Chinese lacquer art is better known because of Li’s video. One crucial thing to reviving the ancient art form is to let more people find its beauty through useful items instead of merely appreciating it as a cultural treasure," Yang added.