Inspired by the traditional Korean wedding chest, this work embodies harmony, prosperity, and blessings through the rhythm of the four seasons.

 

Eternal Seasons: Blessings in Ottchil and Mother-of-Pearl presents a series of lacquer objects that transform traditional Korean forms—jewelry boxes, document cases, and wedding chests—into works of contemplation.

 

Created with ottchil (traditional Korean lacquer) and najeon (mother-of-pearl inlay), the works illuminate how timeless craft materials embody enduring values. The motifs—floral emblems of the four seasons, grapevines symbolizing prosperity, the wedding chest representing harmony, the patchwork of jogakbo conveying blessings, and the wisteria evoking grace and longevity—together narrate a poetic vision of nature and human life.

 

By bridging tradition and modernity, this series invites viewers to encounter not only the aesthetic refinement of Korean craftsmanship but also its universal message of prosperity, harmony, and enduring beauty.

 

 

 

b. 1955

Wang-taek Oh, Director of the Goam Najeon Chilgi Research Institute, is a master of Korea’s luminous mother-of-pearl inlay and lacquer traditions, carrying forward a heritage refined over centuries.

 

Trained under Tae-hee Kim, designated National Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 10, Oh has cultivated a practice that reveres the discipline of craft while opening it to contemporary sensibilities. His surfaces, alive with the iridescence of nacre and the depth of lacquer, are not merely decorative but meditative spaces where light, time, and material coalesce. Acclaimed with top honors including the Grand Prize at the 16th Wonju Korean Lacquer Craft Competition (2017), his works have been presented internationally at institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris; and the Korean Cultural Centers in Rome, Sydney, and Madrid.

 

Through his meticulous process, Oh transforms tradition into a living language—one that speaks as much to Korea’s cultural memory as to the evolving global discourse on craft and design.