Lacquer is mostly applied as a finish onto a wooden core but Chung Hae-Cho draws on lacquer for both core and finish to create his artwork. He uses a laborious technique called ‘dry lacquer’, where many layers of lacquer and textile are applied onto a temporary mould that will later be removed. This method enables Chung to build bold and fluid shapes, with complex, curved surfaces. After countless hours of polishing, the lustre of the lacquer is revealed and magnified by the playful light reflections on those undulating walls. This outcome is encapsulated in the Korean title of his work 'Gwang-Ryul', where 'gwang' means light and 'ryul' means rhythm, suggesting thereby an artwork rhythmed by light.
In this set, Chung uses the traditional colours stemming from Korean folk culture to highlight the Korean roots of his lacquerware. The 'Obangsaek', or five-directional colours are the red, blue, yellow, black and white, with white replaced here by green as it is a difficult colour to produce with lacquer.