Ottchil, also known as an East Asian Lacquer, contains the chemical
substance Urushiol. Ottchil is most frequently used in najeon-chil-gi
(mother-of-pearl inlay lacquer ware); however, the West has typically
perceived ottchil as being a synthetic and not derived from organic
sources. Therefore, in an attempt to refute this misbelief and to raise
awareness of the natural beauty of ottchil in elaborate artisty, artist
KIM Sungsoo has organized a series of Korean Ottchil Painting
exhibitions in the hopes of "enlightening others". In result, the Tongyeong
Ottchil Art Museum was created for the purpose of establishing ottchil
in the Korean art culture--specifically its historical claims to natural beauty and its current modern usages.
KOREA: Ottchil is an art form with long-lasting preservation qualities as well as offering the aesthetics of visual depth and elegance. Ottchil is
the semi-permanent material which doesn't get discolored even if it is
buried in the earth for thousands of years, obviously having better
durability than canvas or paper. In current times creating new concepts and usages of the traditional form of ottchil is a modern art trend.
VIETNAM: Son mai was
a traditional pigment originating in Vietnamese temple art over 1,000
years ago. The art was used for gilding, painting dark brown or black
colors, and varnishing pillars and sculptures of religious iconography
with som mai (resin of the som tree). Traditionally, Buddhist statues were lightly painted and then varnished with som mai to
"bring forth the magical and holy world of Vietnamese traditional
painting". The pigment was also used on household furniture and items
such as beds, drawers, furniture, plates and chopsticks.
Vietnamese painting culture originated in the Puto region, which was known for producing the best quality of som mai. Before the sun rose, people collected it. It was then put in a large container and after some time, the som mai would separate into layers. The top layer was of the richest blacks and browns (som mai)
and used for creating elegance and the lowest layer was of the heavy
elements with waterproof qualities and had everyday, commonplace usages (som song).
In modern times the simple traditional ingredients have been replaced
with more controllable and aesthetically pleasing synthetics. Since the
1980s and 1990s, Vietnamese artists have been expanding the uses of som mai into abstract works to reach new levels of loveliness and idealism.
JAPAN: Urushi has
been used by the Japanese since the Jomon era 1,000 years ago. However,
this number is young when considering the thread-processing tool with urushi applied on it and surmised to be 7,000 years old. Currently, in Kyoto there are a series of activities to develop and promote urushi quality. A lacquer ware youth association in cooperating with young pupils, craftsmen, Maki-e artisans and urushi refiners has launched various programs to expand the uses of lacquer ware gum.
CHINA: Daqi initially was used in lacquer ware but has since been transformed through a long process. In 1962 the "Vietnamese Daqi
Exhibition" was opened first in Beijing and then in Shanghai, and these
would influence the artistic world of China. In the same year that
Vietnamese daqi entered China, university students Qiao Shiguang (who later became knows as "the father of contemporary Chinese Daqi art") and Li Hongyin were sent to Vietnam to study daqi, which started a daqi trend.
A selection of some of the
ottchil art in the museum:
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| lacquered table by Master KIM Sung Soo |
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| "The Great Leap" (1986) by Master KIM Sung Soo |
And then a solo exhibition of Myung Pum Kwan (adjacent building):
