Mayumi Onagi

“I use Urushi (a natural lacquer which is the sap of Urushi tree), soil, linen, wood, water. When I touch these natural materials with my hands and move my body to create, I feel the mystery of nature. At that moment, my soul travels to the forest, the sea, the ground and the sky.

 

When I create works using the “Kanshitsu” technique, I layer lacquer, soil, and hemp on top of each other. It takes many days to create the shape and finish the surface because it is layered and dried little by little.”

- Mayumi Onagi

 

Mayumi Onagi is a graduate of art and design with a unique architectural perspective, as well as a deep understanding of the natural world from her early career as a garden designer. Working as an apprentice under Nagatoshi Ohnishi, an honorary Professor of Tokyo University of the Arts, she learnt the Urushi lacquering technique, before becoming an independent artist and teacher in her own right. She has exhibited extensively in Japan and has been part of international exhibitions in Taiwan,Germany and Korea. Mayumi was a finalist for the LOEWE Craft Prize 2022 and a participant in the prize exhibition at Seoul Museum of Craft Art, Korea, she was a recipient of the Grand Prize in 2017 and Silver Prize in 2009 and at the Ishikawa International Urushi Exhibition 2009 held at the Ishikawa Design Center, Japan.