1/14
2/14
3/14
4/14
5/14
6/14
7/14
8/14
9/14
10/14
11/14
12/14
13/14
14/14
Bowen, Sian: Collapsible Spaces: urushi, No.5
These works form part of my ongoing project of large- and small -scale works which explores notions of spaces that can be collapsed, expanded, reconstructed, transported. Places of retreat, refuge or ritual. Camouflaged entrances and exits which connect with vast expanses of the natural world. Spaces of quietude.
Collapsible Spaces: urushi are suspended in time between actions of folding and unfolding, between two- and three-dimensionality. Created on a handheld scale, they invite an intimate connection with space which also expands conceptually beyond the form of each work. Many include fragments of diagrams, originally drawn on the sides of eighteenth-century folding models for constructing Japanese chashitsu (teahouses/rooms). Thus, they invite a leap from the minute structure of the works themselves to the physical, architectural spaces which the diagrams depict.
Urushi (Japanese lacquer) plays a key role by in the material and conceptual aspects of these pieces. Related to the poison ivy, it can only harden in certain humid conditions and urushi objects have traditionally been used to illuminate dark spaces. Working in Kyoto under the guidance of leading contemporary urushi artist Natsuki Kurimoto, I experimented with how this unique material could be applied to a range of handmade papers.
Combined with a further technique which involves sprinkling pure powdered gold, silver or palladium onto a lacquered surface, these works convey movement not only through acts of folding and unfolding, but also through engagement with light. Light and shadow animate the reflective and translucent nature of the materials used.
The works can be considered as book objects - but at the same time as folded drawings. They contain and release their structure, signposting different ways that we might consider and navigate space, reaching beyond the immediacy of the moment.
Black and raw Japanese lacquer, persimmon tannin, powdered silver on handmade kozo paper, 7.5 x 5.9 inch, one of a kind, sign., Brighton, 2026 Request of availability backnext
Collapsible Spaces: urushi are suspended in time between actions of folding and unfolding, between two- and three-dimensionality. Created on a handheld scale, they invite an intimate connection with space which also expands conceptually beyond the form of each work. Many include fragments of diagrams, originally drawn on the sides of eighteenth-century folding models for constructing Japanese chashitsu (teahouses/rooms). Thus, they invite a leap from the minute structure of the works themselves to the physical, architectural spaces which the diagrams depict.
Urushi (Japanese lacquer) plays a key role by in the material and conceptual aspects of these pieces. Related to the poison ivy, it can only harden in certain humid conditions and urushi objects have traditionally been used to illuminate dark spaces. Working in Kyoto under the guidance of leading contemporary urushi artist Natsuki Kurimoto, I experimented with how this unique material could be applied to a range of handmade papers.
Combined with a further technique which involves sprinkling pure powdered gold, silver or palladium onto a lacquered surface, these works convey movement not only through acts of folding and unfolding, but also through engagement with light. Light and shadow animate the reflective and translucent nature of the materials used.
The works can be considered as book objects - but at the same time as folded drawings. They contain and release their structure, signposting different ways that we might consider and navigate space, reaching beyond the immediacy of the moment.
Black and raw Japanese lacquer, persimmon tannin, powdered silver on handmade kozo paper, 7.5 x 5.9 inch, one of a kind, sign., Brighton, 2026 Request of availability backnext