Media Liberation and Reconstruction: The Ontological Transformation of Contemporary Lacquer Art

Abstract

Contemporary lacquer art faces a critical juncture. Its modernization cannot be achieved through superficial updates of visual motifs or simple functional shifts. Instead, what's needed is a fundamental restructuring of the medium's ontological foundations. This study examines how modern lacquer painting can achieve genuine autonomy by breaking free from its historical subordination to vessel-based forms. Through analysis of contemporary practices and theoretical engagement with material agency and medium specificity, this research identifies two major obstacles: technical fetishism (excessive focus on virtuosic craftsmanship over conceptual innovation) and medium aphasia (uncritical borrowing from other artistic traditions). The investigation of technical deconstruction processes—gestural mark-making, textural materialization, and subtractive aesthetics—reveals an emerging visual language rooted in lacquer's intrinsic material properties. The findings demonstrate that deliberate deconstruction of conventional techniques enables reconstruction of aesthetic systems that bridge Eastern philosophical traditions with contemporary visual experience, establishing lacquer art's distinct position in global contemporary practice.