#this brought to you by my intense desire to learn this craft and mayhaps make a few special boxes

[inkwingart]

God, not me going down a rabbithole learning about traditional vietnamese lacquer painting and being overcome by the need to get into this craft. Like, perhaps I am Many-Much biased but sơn mài is one of the most unique and beautiful styles of lacquer art. I wish this artform had more international recognition because it’s absolutely incredible.

And I’m so pissed that there has been little to no international interest in it, because I’ve been obsessed with lacquer art since I was a kid, but whenever I tried to learn more about the process, all the info I found was about maki-e. Even now, when I look for materials to try it myself, I’m stuck with sourcing urushi, and it’s kind of heartbreaking. I want to learn and participate in my culture’s artistic heritage, but the only way for me to do so is to rely on another culture’s popularity and materials.

There is nothing else in the world like this. Like, holy fucking shit.