I employ lacquerware to explore the boundaries between aesthetic identification and repulsion by viewing the standard of beauty cultivated in Japanese “urushi” lacquerware as a framework of order and introducing elements that deviate from this norm to coexist in my work. Correct technique in lacquerware involves applying lacquer uniformly without damaging the shape of the structure and then repeatedly polishing its surface to achieve a smooth, flawless finish. Such pristine flat surfaces are symbolic of a sense of order derived from tradition. Based on this value system, I create the conditions of “liminality,” a concept explored by anthropologists Mary Douglas and Victor Turner. I believe that when conventional notions of beauty and ugliness coexist to create ambiguity, it frees the viewer to be able to examine the work more subjectively.