Born in Osaka in 1969, Genta HAYASHI 林源太 graduated in 1992 from the Department of Lacquer, Faculty of Fine Arts, the Kyoto City University of Arts in Japan. He completed his graduate studies in Lacquering in 1994 and then set up a workshop in Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto. His first solo exhibition took place at Osaka Contemporary Craft Gallery in 1996. He moved his workshop to Toyonaka City, Osaka Prefecture, in 1998. The media have frequently featured Hayashi's craft making, and he has appeared in TV programmes aired by NHK.
Genta HAYASHI cultivated a love of art and craft at a very young age. He is interested in the three-dimensional form in his lacquer creation. The world of lacquer making involves two craft disciplines - woodworks and lacquer. He is one of the few lacquer practitioners who can master both skills.
Inspired by the traditional Jubako box design, we used cypress tree wood and created stripes on the surfaces. It is then applied with lacquer with red pigment and adding black lacquer to the rims of the box.
As a Japanese functional ware named Jūbako (重箱, literally mean tiered boxes) can store and serve various kinds of food warm or cold, such as candies, canapes and sushi.
Lacquer Three-tiered Box by Genta HAYASHI
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.
