Murose Kazumi

Murose Kazumi (b. 1950) Born to established and esteemed urushi artist Murose Shunji (1911-1989), the young Murose became aware from an early age of the need to bridge two worlds: that of tradition and that of forced adaptation to a Westernized lifestyle. In recent works he revisits cultural influences like the Portuguese-inspired stripe designs from the Azuchi-Momoyama period, revitalizing meanings in design from the history. Murose learned urushi in earnest at the Tokyo University of the Arts and studied under the urushi master and Living National Treasure Matsuda Gonroku (1896-1986). Gonroku’s principal student, Taguchi Yoshikuni (1923-1998), was also Murose’s mentor. Under their tutelage, Murose learned as a craftsman about the rich history and techniques of urushi.