TECHNICAL INHERITANCE AND INNOVATION PATHWAYS IN CONTEMPORARY CHINESE LACQUER PAINTING

Abstract

Since its establishment as an independent painting genre in 1984, Chinese lacquer painting has undergone four decades of development and now stands at a critical juncture in transitioning from craft dependency to cultural self awareness. In order to clarify the internal logic underlying the transformation from traditional lacquering craft to contemporary lacquer painting, and to address the imbalance between technical inheritance and conceptual innovation, this study takes the technical system as its core entry point and employs document analysis, case studies, and comparative research methods to systematically trace the lineage of technical inheritance in contemporary lacquer painting, while analyzing three key dimensions of innovation: material language, lacquering techniques, and pictorial expression. The research finds that contemporary lacquer painting does not deviate from tradition; rather, under the guiding principle of upholding integrity while embracing innovation, it deeply explores the material properties of raw lacquer, creatively transforms traditional techniques, actively responds to contemporary visual experience, and gradually constructs an independent artistic language system with a distinct cultural identity. Academic education, advanced research programs, and master apprentice transmission together form a pluralistic inheritance network, while material boundary expansion, technical reinterpretation, and pictorial reorientation advance simultaneously, achieving a transformative reconstruction from the way of craft to the way of painting. The study demonstrates that the evolution of lacquer painting from lacquering craft to conceptual art represents a practice of engaging with contemporary aesthetic questions through Eastern media, offering an important reference for the modern transformation of traditional crafts. It is recommended that future creative practice uphold the ontological nature of lacquer, balance craftsmanship with painterly qualities, strengthen the expression of local culture, refine the disciplinary evaluation system, and drive lacquer painting from technical innovation toward conceptual self awareness, thereby enhancing its discursive power within the contemporary art landscape. As of the 14th National Art Exhibition of China in 2024, a total of 218 works were selected for the lacquer painting section, of which approximately 41% involved innovations in material language; works addressing contemporary themes such as urban life, ecological environment, and historical memory exceeded traditional subject matter for the first time, accounting for 63% of the selected works. Regions including Fujian, Jiangxi, and Henan have developed distinctive regional creative characteristics, providing rich practical samples for this research.