W310×D160×H75mm

Materials: (Urushi) - Lacquer, (Aburazashi) - Hemp cloth, (Washi) - Japanese paper, (Gin) - Silver, (Kai) - Shell, (Ganryo) - Pigment/(Kanshitsu) - Dried lacquer, (Kawarinuri) - Changing color lacquer technique, (Raden) - Mother-of-pearl inlay, (Makie) - Sprinkled picture (a technique of Japanese lacquerware)

At first glance, it may appear to be a leather product with a zipper, but it is, in fact, a box created entirely using traditional lacquerware techniques. The leather-like texture is achieved through the changing color lacquer technique, and the zipper is reproduced using the sprinkled picture (Makie) technique. The theme of the artwork is the reproduction of the impact of mirages on human psychology. The zipper applied to this box will never open. I believe that the psychological disturbance when something familiar turns out to be fake can be profound. The same principle can be applied to mirages. For example, even if an unidentified flying object appears as a mirage, one might not recognize it as such. In other words, this artwork attempts to explore how perceptions of the existence of things can change based on the psychological state and knowledge of the viewer.

Japanese craftsmanship has been honed over a long history.

What makes it unquie and attarctive is the amount of dedication and attention Japanese craftmen put into hidden details.

As a craft creator in Japan, I'll keep working hard to understand and share the real charm of Japanese culture.

——SASAKI Gakuto