Japanese, born in 1993 in Aichi
Lives and works in Kanazawa, Japan

Kohei Ukai resolutely choses to work with Urushi, a tree sap that plays an important role in protecting scars on a tree. He takes advantage of its unique properties, such as serving as a natural glue or paint, because they allow him to leave a trace by hand. Urushi doesn’t have an identifying shape of its own. Instead, it acquires form by merging with a tree. This interesting symbiotic relationship among the materials is what fascinates Kohei Ukai; he describes the process as going back and forth between consciousness and unconsciousness, encountering unintentional forms in the repetition of an act as simple as painting and polishing.