Gleam of Enlightenment Print

One summer, I was sketching a cicada. Its beady eyes, velvety armour-like body, and wings sparking like microscopic stained glass. Every part was - in shape, color and texture- perfect for the funtion, and the small creature seemed more beautiful and efficient than anything created by modern technology. I thought '' How can this intricate pieces of art with a soul, rest on my fingers make a really loud sound and fly freely?'' A couple of hours later, I was confused to find my passion suddenly fading. But it wasn't about me. It was the cicada. Within a few minutes, it turned grey, dry, dull and uninteresting as if a spell had transformed a sparkling gem into empty shell. It died, and I experienced a moment of enlightenment. I perceived life and death simply by looking at the body parts, and determined that it must be posssible to create a work of art with a sense of 'life' without giving it the actual shape of organisms that people are familiar with. '' Gleam of Enlightenment'' seeks to capture that ambition. Life sparkles when it is filled with water - the major component of living cells - which acts as a solvent a temperature buffer and enables metabolism. While Life is a synthsis of countless chemical reactions dependent on water, when the organism dies all this stops, and desiccation follows. (ABOUT MY MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUES) Son Ta, Vietnamese natural lacquer, is an organic material purified and processed from sap of Rhus Saccedanea tree. In my son ta painting, art is created by building layers of lacquer with different colors and textures, and other materials (such as gold, silver, eggshells, and mother of pearl). Underlaying layers are then sanded back to the surface. Son ta has a high transparency compared to other natural lacquers. High transparency enables lacquer to have more vivid colours when mixed with colour pigments. The transparency of the material can also be used to create a variety of expressions. What fascinates me most is the fact that son ta "ages" with time. Natural lacquer hardens by a chemical reaction rather than dries. Enzymes within the lacquer catch oxygen from H2O in the atmosphere and polymerize. This reaction happens in son ta over a much longer time span compared to lacquer from other countries. This makes son ta much softer at the beginning, but turns it harder and tougher with time. Its transparency also increases, making the finished work brighter and more colourful with time. Son ta painting is an art form that ages like fine quality wine. The longer the time, the better in quality and flavore, until the chemical effect is fully complete.