Born in China in 1988, Liu Yang 劉楊 graduated from Nanjing University of the Arts, specialising in lacquer art. Liu won her first national award in 2013 at the Biennial China lacquer painting exhibition in Xiamen. Since then she has been active in various competitions, exhibitions and auctions in both China and Japan.
Liu’s pursuit of lacquer art from paintings to three dimensional design demonstrate her well versed skills in different aspects of the discipline. She contributed papers to academic journals on subjects relating to innovation and reinventing materials of contemporary lacquer art. She received full scholarship for her Master degree study in China and in 2019 she took part in the Talent Cultivation Programme sponsored by the National Arts Foundation to advance her further development in lacquer art overseas. She is currently based in Kanazawa, Japan. Her sculptural creations are always minimal which highlight the beauty of shape and form. They remain modest and yet elegant.
"A Couple of Experiments" Lacquer Vessel by LIU Yang
Lacquer craft in China has a long history. The oldest lacquerware discovered dates back to the Warring States period (403-221 B.C.). the craft has been transferred to Japan, Korea, and other parts of Southeast Asia. The value of a piece of lacquerware only begins with the materials used to make it. A high quality piece of lacquerware requires the skills of several different elements: lacquer, layers, core materials, decoration, colours, design and process.
