Wei Nan

Wei Nan (born 1994) is a young Chinese artist from Beijing, trained in the art of lacquer in Japan for 8 years. Drawing inspiration from the dynamic beauty of nature, such as blooming flowers and restless undulating waves, she explores three-dimensional forms that emerge, layer upon layer, with urushi lacquer. It combines the soft, flexible nature of leather with the elegance of lacquer and creates a dynamic that invites the viewer to interact with the work of art on a visual, tactile and emotional level . One of his works recently joined the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

At a relatively young age, Wei Nan received numerous awards while studying in Japan, including the Cultural Foundation Award at the 67th Japan Saga Prefectural Art Exhibition in 2017, and the Student Award at the 57th Japan Crafts Exhibition in 2018, the Encouragement Award at the 59th Japan Crafts Exhibition in 2020. In addition, her work was selected to exhibit at one of the most prestigious exhibitions, Ishikawa International Urushi Exhibition, in 2020. Most recently her work “Power of Flower” is awarded the Grand Prize of “Art meets Architecture Competition” (AAC 2021) in Japan.

“I love to create innovative conceptual works that respect the material’s natural qualities. I explore the Shippi technique from the Asuka period in Japan. I use genuine leather in my lacquer pieces as it offers elasticity. First, a piece of leather is stretched onto a mould so that I can create a form to express my concept. Next, at least five layers of lacquer are applied to the leather to harden it. The surface is then mounted with linen. Additional layers of lacquer are applied for strength and thickness.”
Wei Nan