Hello there! I am Sophia, a self-taught urushi artist based in Hong Kong. I first came across urushi through my use of fountain pens, and quickly fell in love with the technique and artistry behind urushi lacquer.

After spending several months researching resources related to urushi, I started lacquering as a hobby in 2022. This grew into a deeper interest into the art form over time, and I decided to pursue urushi art professionally in early 2024.

My current interest and speciality lies primarily in the use of inlay techniques such as Raden and Eggshell. Recently I had the amazing opportunity to take comprehensive Maki-e lessons in Tokyo in the summer of 2024 and plan to continually develop these skills to further complement the designs I will work on in the future.

Coming from an academic background in biomedical science, I have a deep interest in nature and science, and many of my personal designs are inspired by wildlife and nature (You’ll often find me obsessing over birds). I try to incorporate elements from the outdoors and in nature into my designs, and I like to explore ways to express these ideas using different urushi techniques.

I also enjoy the process of experimenting with different techniques and combining them in different ways to come up with new designs. As always, this is a continual learning process which I hope to expand and cultivate over time.