In 2026, work by Mayu Nakata is on view in Venice.<\/p>\n
Nakata is taking part in an exhibition titled “Ethnography of the Body and Material \u2014 Slowness and Depth in an Accelerated Society”, held to coincide with the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. It is a separate project from the Biennale itself, staged in Venice during the same period, and it reconsiders contemporary craft through material, the body and time.<\/p>\n
Nakata is a lacquer artist whose practice centres on kinma, a technique in which a lacquered surface is carved, the incisions filled with iro-urushi (pigmented urushi), and the whole surface then polished back. In her work, roughly forty layers of pigmented urushi \u2014 and the months or even year of making that they require \u2014 are bound up with the expression itself.<\/p>\n
This article sets out Mayu Nakata’s background and technique, what to look for in the work, and the 2026 Venice showing, drawing on primary sources throughout.<\/p>\n
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