Celebrated lacquer artist cultivates the next generation｜Taiwan News

A prize-winning lacquer artist has dedicated herself to cultivating the next generation of skilled artisans. Sung Yu-chen has won many medals, both in Taiwan and abroad, for her extremely fine lacquer art. It’s an artform that involves a lot of patience and detailed carving skills. After retiring from competitions, she has become a teacher, and now trains young artists as they set out on their professional careers.

Sung Yu-chen discusses a work with her student, her fingers on the board to feel its details better. At another table, she shows a student how to brush away detritus. Sung has represented Taiwan as a lacquer artist at many international competitions. Since retiring from her competing days, she has turned to training up students.

Sung Yu-chin
Lacquer artisan trainer
In lacquer art, the difficulty is not in needing to carry about bulky tools or things like that. The main challenge is patience. The pictures are very fine, and you need to bring in artistry, and that does really take time to develop. But the basic method is just be patient and keep on grinding.

She once represented Taiwan in a contest in Brazil, making a design that incorporated elements of Indigenous Taiwanese myths and legends. She was the first woman to win a gold medal in lacquer art at the National Skills Competition. Five years ago, she took up this role as a professional trainer for the Taoyuan-Hsinchu-Miaoli Branch of the Workforce Development Agency.

Sung Yu-chin
Lacquer artisan trainer
In my student phase, I was almost entirely receiving. Now it’s mainly time to give back through teaching. And in watching them work, and in seeing the art they produce, it actually makes me think again, like, “Maybe there’s a better method, a new way that can accomplish the same result that we want.”

Lee Chun-cheng
Lacquer art student
What’s different about Ms. Sung compared to other teachers is that she has a lot of very detailed concepts, and her experience in the process of competition, as well as her grasp of time management. She can offer us a lot of extremely detailed suggestions. And she sees a lot of perspectives that we don’t immediately pick up on.

Although no longer competing internationally, Sung is still passionate about her craft. She is very skilled at adapting her expertise to be of use to her students, and hopes that her personal example can contribute to the continuation of this unique artform.

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