Yoko Ichikawa is a lacquer leather artist, who creates beautiful objects using traditional techniques that she has modernised in an original way. Yoko shapes treated leather, then stitches the leather up with hemp thread and finally paints the lacquer to preserve and harden the surface. Yoko does not paint every part of the work with lacquer.
A lacquer leather container preserves its contents well. From as early as 550AD people kept treasure in leather containers or used them to cover important documents. These leather containers functioned as talismans, protecting the contents from evil. However, gradually wood carving became more popular than leather and this tradition became obsolete.
The organic shapes of Yoko's pieces are unique. Yoko has a philosophy of minimising waste when making her creations.
She leaves the edges rough. The finished creation invokes the philosophy of Wabi-Sabi. What once was an animal's protective skin, Yoko transforms. She flattens and re-shapes the skin to make beautiful containers that protect people’s valuable things. She revives and gives an another life.
