Vershbow’s Art Gets Korean Touch
Korea Times, South Korea
By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
Artists traveling to a foreign country can seldom help allowing that country to influence their work. Such is the case with Lisa Vershbow, a metalsmith, sometimes better known as the wife of the U.S. Ambassador to Seoul, Alexander Vershbow.
“New Korean influences, such as jade and bamboo leaves, are beginning to surface in my work,’’ she said last Wednesday during a presentation of her works before students and professors at the Sun Gallery in Insa-dong, Seoul, where her exhibition is being held.
Her exhibition features some 100 works, which sum up her four-year stay in Russia and seven-month experience in Korea. At the request of the gallery, she gave a one-hour lecture on the exhibition.
Her well-organized presentation was followed with lots of photo slides, helping the audience understand how she created her jewelry.
At the start she showed photos of Kyongbok Palace and Haein-sa Temple, Buddhist lanterns and kimchi, stressing their beautiful colors. Photos of various kinds of bamboo, and the Bamboo Museum in Kwangju followed.
“As I love leaves, I found bamboo, which is outside my studio,’’ she said to explain how bamboo became one of her main themes in jewelry art.
Then, several of her photos of bamboo leaves were shown to a resounding “a-ha,’’ from the audience, showing their appreciation.
“Color, form and mechanical connections have always interested me,’’ she said. “I like to make jewelry and objects that combine traditional jewelry-making techniques with a wide range of non-traditional materials.’’
Lisa prefers to work with industrial materials like anodized aluminum and plastics, combining them with silver, semi-precious stones and pearls, rather than the precious variety.
Her eyes flashed with pleasure as she remembered when she first found amber in Russia which she calls nature’s own plastic. “I always spend much time in warehouses and other shops for materials, and you know how I feel about the plastics (of amber),’’ she said.
Amber is one of the most important themes for her works in Russia not only because of its easy availability in Russia but also because it is very soft and easy to cut.
The most important thing about her jewelry art is that it is not a just art to look at but something to use in a daily life. “I try to create designs that will both amuse and please the wearer,’’ she stressed.
Her exhibition will run until June 15. The phone number of the Sun Gallery is (02) 734-0458.
