Armored Form (Yorou-katachi) No. 9
Toki Kenji Japanese
Not on view
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.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.