Carved Lacquer: A Dialogue with Tradition
Inside the workshop, 2014–2015

27th Jul 2015

In 2014, Jacky Tsai first introduced lacquer carving into his practice for his exhibition at Scream Gallery. Working closely with traditional Chinese artisans, he began translating his encounters between Eastern imagery and Western Pop culture into richly worked lacquer panels. The project continued in 2015, when Tsai returned to the workshop to document the people, processes and patient collaboration behind the works.

The 2015 film follows Tsai into the workshop, offering a close view of his collaboration with the artisans. Rooted in a Chinese lacquer tradition stretching back more than two thousand years, the project brings inherited skills into conversation with a contemporary visual language.

The finished surface emerges through many demanding stages: carving and cutting into the design, scraping and refining its contours, applying colour, and carefully working with delicate gold leaf. Each stage depends on the judgement of the maker. Line, relief, colour and gilding combine to give the images a physical depth and a changing play of light.

For Tsai, the collaboration opened up new possibilities for both image and material. Traditional landscapes, flowers and figures meet the energy of Pop imagery, while the artisans’ skills give these encounters a tactile presence. The works carry the time and care of their making, turning a dialogue between cultures into a dialogue between hands, materials and ideas.

The project’s beginnings — 2014

The earlier short film below returns to the first chapter of Tsai’s lacquer project in 2014, documenting the workshop collaboration that laid the foundations for this continuing exploration of traditional craftsmanship.