Art for the heart
"Through lacquerworking, I've learned to be more upfront and to try and confront and solve the problems in my life," says one Taichung Prison inmate, "Wenhua" (not his real name).
Serving a sentence of 13 years and two months for firearms-related offenses, Wenhua originally decided to volunteer for the lacquerworking course because "it's not like I was doing anything else." He never expected to find a new interest in art or have his values changed.
Wenhua explains that while making lacquerware, there are plenty of things that can go wrong-the piece could break, the design might not come out right, the gold powder might end up in the wrong place, shells could be attached crooked.... If you let a mistake make you pack it in, there's nothing at all left to show for your hard work, and so in order to make sure past mistakes aren't in vain, the prisoners have to learn to be patient, fix up the lacquer, or figure out some way to incorporate the mistake into a new design.
"Making something beautiful by having to think positively and solve problems with my own creativity, that's an experience that the old, violent me would never have even imagined!"
Lacquerworking has also honed Wenhua's appreciation for beauty, and now everything the natural world has to offer-flowers, birds, bugs, rocks, everything-is a possible creative subject to him.
"Suddenly my life seemed much more interesting, and I really regret my wild past when I didn't know the value of my life or the lives of others," he says earnestly.
People like Wenhua are certainly not a minority in Taichung Prison. Although maybe not everyone can be a master or create a piece independently, even the inmates working on washing out the bodies can appreciate the work allowances they get, which vary according to how much work each inmate does. And for those who can see the beauty hidden in the raw materials and create a piece worth tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of NT dollars, the sense of pride and achievement is beyond compare.
For inmates, immersing themselves in lacquerwork can make the days and months fly by, and once they leave prison, they have a valuable niche in which to build their new lives. So far, eight inmates trained in lacquerwork have finished their sentences, of which four have found related work. Two are even artists-in-residence at Taichung Folk Park!
Art has proven effective at transforming brutality to goodness, and this year Taichung Prison will hold its fourth lacquerworking course. There are also plans to expand the business to include selling works produced by ex-inmates who have also completed the lacquerworking course.
Laying down their weapons and learning to create things of truth, beauty, and goodness with their own two hands has, for many inmates long lost in the darkness, ignited a ray of hope as brilliant as the rainbow of colors they now work with.
This screen, created by an inmate at Taichung Prison and consisting of four sections, is priced at an astonishing NT$200,000.
Lacquerwork takes many forms; this style, wherein the artist carves on the clay body first, then lacquers over it, gives pieces a more three-dimensional look.
Inlaying a lacquerware piece with metal wires can give the lines of the piece more texture. This technique is known by the French name "cloisonne."
Learning to lacquer also trains you in painting, design, and calligraphy; the calligraphy on this screen, which would rival any specialist calligrapher's, was done by the hand of an inmate at Taichung Prison.
As this inmate works diligently on a detailed design on piece, one is drawn to the interesting juxtaposition of his design and the colorful tattoos on his fingers.