Contemporary lacquer installation artist Sun Wenjia: Polishing the 'time things that cannot be fully tamed'
Original search for contemporary lacquer An Di AD2023-01-11 09:00 Beijing
Sun Wenjia, a contemporary lacquer installation artist, was born in 1986 in Zhouning County, Fujian Province. He graduated from the College of Fine Arts at Fujian Normal University and has held solo exhibitions in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou and other cities. His representative work is the 'Wu Yan M' series. He has been committed to the diversified study of lacquer forms and constantly expanding the boundaries of lacquer art. The image shows him in his studio, with the front left featuring an art side table he created (2022), made of lacquer, polystyrene and ramie; the front right shows his unfinished new work, and on the back wall hangs his representative series 'Wu Yan M Squared 03' (2022), made of lacquer, polystyrene, ramie and metal foil. Sun Wenjia is wearing an oxidised-effect brown wool jacquard two-piece set, brown waterproof tightly woven cotton twill straight pleated trousers and black leather shoes, all from Hermès. The weather in Fuzhou is changeable; yesterday it was gloomy with a cold wave, while today it is bright, warm and sweet. In the studio in the university town villa area, this building is the most uniquely stylish, with a bright space and geometric points, lines and planes, making the white boxes, large and small, as intriguing as the flowing cello melodies filling the room. The music was prepared by him, while the light was unexpectedly found. Sun Wenjia polishes his objects of time here: 'Lacquer is the visible time that objectively exists.'
On the wall hangs Sun Wenjia's work "Evolution of Objects M02" (2019) from his series "Minjiang Drifting", created and completed by him, made of lacquer, polystyrene, ramie, metal foil, 3D components, and tracking devices. On the floor is his artistic coffee table "Yan" (2022), made of lacquer, polystyrene, ramie, and metal foil. Sun Wenjia, who studied oil painting as his undergraduate major, only began systematically studying lacquer during his postgraduate studies in 2018. Before that, he had casually experimented with the material for fun, describing the process as a kind of experimental search, "like looking for a certain local identity of my own." Coming from Zhouning, Fujian, his life has always involved various lacquer items. "But they were all finished products for daily use; I had never seen lacquer in a 'living' state in everyday life." When he first came into direct contact with lacquer, he experienced a full-body allergic reaction, but the itch and pain also sparked an insight: "This reaction is like a biological stress response, allowing me to truly feel the vitality of lacquer; it is indeed a visually perceptible active material." This vitality can manifest as vivid expressions or as life itself. When humans, as strong life forms, encounter such equally stubborn living material, narratives and stories are inevitably generated.
And the display of the Ice Age giant hyena skull in the first-level space, which has been 3D restored and mended with lacquer and gold, can illustrate a certain implicit characteristic of his creative works—the sense of skeleton. We are usually happy to acknowledge the fluidity and adhesiveness of lacquer, but it was not until seeing Sun Wenjia's installation works that we had a sense of the skeletal quality of lacquer.
Sun Wenjia said that his lacquerware creations are basically driven by personal needs, such as this large lacquer workbench in his studio. Its materials are: raw lacquer, ramie, wooden base, aluminium plate. His postgraduate studies honed Sun Wenjia's skill in handling and mastering lacquer. Works created with lacquer exist so quietly in space, fully displaying their warm and accommodating material nature: "You can inlay, paint, sprinkle powder, or apply gold and silver leaf with lacquer." At such times, it is always temperate and all-encompassing, especially after polishing, revealing a subtle and exquisite luster that makes one captivated by its jade-like texture. However, after learning various techniques, he ultimately realised that the process he thought was 'domesticating' lacquer actually led to the conclusion that it 'cannot be completely tamed.' The charm and appeal of lacquer lie precisely in this.
Details of Sun Wenjia's work "Evolution of Matter M05" (2020); Materials: lacquer, polystyrene, ramie, metal foil. Within the details lies a tug-of-war and entanglement between the artist and the lacquer, and between the lacquer and its adhering materials. "It carries an inherent uncertainty, always deviating from my pre-set intentions during the process, such as unpredictable deformations, changes in colour over time, or even the randomness of transparency under different weather conditions." As the creator, he strives to control this uncertainty, yet the lacquer itself fiercely resists any attempt at control. "This tug-of-war is also visible, for example, when we see the tension created by the lacquer pulling against the material it adheres to and its surrounding textures, you feel that it is a very vigorous material." His tone is gentle, yet the meaning of his words is startling, much like the colourful and fantastical ancestral and deity rituals in central Fujian, where power is subtly concealed within the spectacle.
A lacquer work placed in the dark room of the studio. Traversing over eight thousand years of dust, the ancestors of the Huaxia people in the Neolithic Age had already begun to extract this natural resin and apply it to the surfaces of everyday utensils to extend their lifespan. It preserves the visible shape of time. This also inspired Sun Wenjia's experimental lacquer project in 2020: letting his lacquer installation 'Object Evolution M02' drift downstream from the source of the Minjiang River in Taitan Village, Junkou Town, Jianning County, Sanming, Fujian, to the river's estuary in Mawei, Fuzhou. This Minjiang River journey lasted 45 days, covering 577 kilometres, during which Sun Wenjia followed the work on a hired boat in many sections, while also installing a real-time tracker inside the piece, allowing its drifting path to be viewed on a mobile phone. The entire drifting process of this artwork along the Minjiang River constitutes a completely new form of performance.
"Evolution of Things M02" drifted to the confluence of Yanping/Liangxi.
'Wuyan M02' is at Mawei/Estuary.
Many unexpected events during the process deeply struck the young artist. For example, when the work drifted to Yanping, I went to a fishmonger's stall in the market to inquire if there was a fishing boat I could hire to continue tracking it, and unexpectedly, the fishmonger's couple volunteered themselves—they were among the people who lived by following the waters of the Min River. In early times in Fujian, timber was largely transported by floating on rivers, and this fisherman couple was a part of that trade. Later, due to the construction of a hydroelectric station and the disruption of waterways, coupled with changes in transportation methods, they changed professions and became fishermen. Their children all settled in the city, buying houses, but the couple continued to make their home on the boat. It seemed as if drifting along was their destiny.
The wall of the project was covered with Sun Wenjia's conceptual sketches and creative notes. "Through the shifting of time and space, our vision witnesses a great contrast. For example, I insisted on going to the source of the Min River; it is hard to imagine that it was just a small pool of water, yet when it reaches the sea downstream, it becomes so mighty and turbulent." And he used lacquer, combined with modern technology, to experience and witness all of this. Later, he likened this series of works to a "time capsule", and the exhibition was named accordingly, which embodied his exploration of lacquer.
Details of the art coffee table 'Yan' (2022) by Sun Wenjia, materials: lacquer, polystyrene, ramie, metal foil. Transitioning from oil painting to lacquer work, Sun Wenjia also faced great challenges. The spontaneity and immediate feedback experienced in painting became delayed gratification that had to be accepted in lacquer. 'In painting, we care a lot about the immediate feeling, but lacquer never caters to your temper; it is a process that gradually becomes clear.' He always has to wait for this process. 'It has its own rhythm, you cannot persistently force it, you can only wait for it.'
The art coffee table located in the public area is made by combining forged metal with lacquer craftsmanship. He described the waiting process as a kind of mutual observation, or perhaps a mutual gaze, with inevitable anticipation, yet afraid to let it take shape, fearing disappointment. 'The surprise it gives might just enlighten you!' When he said this, all the previous helplessness, irritation, and even exasperation in his tone turned into a fluttering heartbeat, making one believe there was passion behind it. However, Sun Wenjia never mentions this sensibility. He emphasises that he hopes his lacquer works can convey a sense of calm and rationality.
Material of the flower vessels: paper pulp, lacquer, ramie, tile ash; Material of the tea utensils: wooden body, lacquer, ramie, tile ash. "As lacquer in the arts and crafts, it already has a classical precedent and must not be treated lightly. As a material, however, I believe lacquer should have more possibilities in every era."
Therefore, in his own exhibitions, he continuously experiments with more methods and explores the spatial and temporal boundaries of lacquer's expression in more dimensions: immersive scene installations, virtual spaces, physical actions... "From a practical standpoint in daily life, lacquer is a very tangible material that allows purely physical expression, and lacquer works can also become functional objects within a spatial context." At the same time, for him, lacquer is also a highly metaphysical material that can freely traverse space and time, and be endowed with a real form.
