Born in Nanping, Fujian in 1984, Wu Guanzhen is a professional artist now living and working in Xiamen. To fully deliver and celebrate his artistic vision, Wu started to explore the innovative expression of Chinese lacquer art in 2010, and immersed himself in a seven-
year journey before hosting his first solo exhibition ni 2016. His exclusive artistic approach has been certified as China's invention patent.
Chinese lacquer is a living art material from nature. The life process of lacquer makes people feel the meaning of temporal aesthetics. China is where lacquer art originated, and Wu Guanzhen is seeking innovation and truth through his contemporary lacquer art, which not only respects lacquer as a natural gift and celebrates its natural process, but also adheres to his innovative approach to express conceptual artistic thinking.
Both lacquer and ramie come from the childhood experience and memory of Wu Guanzhen, who transfers lacquer paintings from heavy lacquer boards to light, transparent ramie bases - an approach that Wu has pioneered for his contemporary lacquer art. Skilled at using "light" as a hidden element embedded in the intersection between lacquer and ramie, Wu's works deliver harmonious yet varying impressions amid different times and light, enabling dynamic visual effects that dance with the light as well as wonderful visual engagements between the viewer and the work. Between lacquer and ramie, Wu is exploring the relation between realness and emptiness, and revealing mind-blowing understandings of oriental aesthetics in the context of contemporary lacquer art.