Repairing to sublimate
The life of our objects is punctuated by events which mark, just as ours. Breaks, cracks or chips bear witness to their use. Are they condemned to the bin therefore ?
In Japan, Kintsugi art consists in repairing objects with a lacquer from a specific tree, followed by a covering of the marks with gold powder. The scars, instead of being hidden, are sublimated, witnessing the history of objects.
Freely inspired by this technic, I repair ceramics, stone and wood... And sublimate their fractures.
The method
Repair
Embellishment
My spirit
To repair objects, I respect the Kintsugi method. I use the traditional lacquer, urushi, obtained from a specific tree, Toxicodendron.
If raw urushi is extremely irritating, it becomes totally harmless when polymerized in good conditions : temperature between 25 and 30°C, ang hygrometry between 70 et 80%.
Several steps are necessary.
First, the assembly of pieces, gluing them with a mix of lacquer and wheat flour.
Then, I fullfill holes and spaces. If necessary, I can rebuild some parts, or insert pieces from other objects to fill gaps left by missing pieces. This step is still realized with urushi mixed with an adapted material : from "tonoko" to build important gaps, to the thin kaolin to fill spaces of porcelain.
When the object is reconstituted, there are several ways to embellish its scars :
- the traditionnal is also the most famous, with gold powder. Pure gold (24 carats) is the only material which guarantee the object to be food safe. Of course, it's also the most expensive.
- silver, copper or brass powder allow different colours, which can be more assorted to the object style.
- urushisugi consists in simply covering the scar with a couloured lacquer. I obtain a red or black shiny line.
I treat all items entrusted to me the same way : a Ming vase or your grand-mother favourite cup. If you want me to repair it, it means that it's valuable, and it deserves time and attention. That's why the price of my intervention isn't accorded to the value of the item, but to the necessary time to repair it, the necessity or not to fill important gaps, and the nature of embellishment.