土岐謙次作　「鎧ふかたち」|Armored Form (Yorou-katachi) No. 9

Toki Kenji

2009 · Plastic and lacquer · Asian Art

Toki Kenji’s art pushes the boundaries of the lacquer medium. He experiments with bodies developed with computer-aided design or made of carbon fiber, which he covers with traditionally applied lacquer (urushi), bringing together modern digital technology and time-honored craftsmanship. For this work he used a commercial plastic model of Gundam, a giant robot-like “mobile suit” featured in a science fiction series, which consists of 140 parts. The artist carefully applied lacquer to each part, using red lacquer topped with a transparent layer (shudame-nuri) on the armor section to mimic the look of traditional Japanese armor.

Artist

Toki Kenji

Date

2009

Medium

Plastic and lacquer

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Gift of the artist, 2017