VRODA BY ALLA ZHMAYLO / VERA BLANSH IMPERSONATION
MARCH 5-17-2018 SHCHERBENKO ART CENTRE
Alla Zhmaylo is a well-known Ukrainian artist. Her artistic works make you rethink the past and take a different look at usual things. The artist’s special vision finds expression not only in her pictures and sculptures, but also in her uniquely designed accessories. Alla does not use jewelry materials, but instead, transforms metal and rubber with an up-to-date processing technique.
Jointly with VRODA brand, the designer has created Ukraine’s first art collection of amber accessories «IMPERSONATION». It includes twenty unique items with the key element in the form of a traditional hat – a “kibalka” made of amber with the author’s unique technique. Alla was inspired to create her collection by the texture of the original stone. The accessories are made of rubber with the addition of lacing wire. Such faceting not only emphasizes the fragility of amber, but the tenderness of every woman.
This image, along with the research of prototypes, gains relevant social meaning in the interpretation of Vera Blansh, a photographic artist: “The split black earth shows us the yellow jewel in its glamour, amid the motives of prayer and force”. In her photographs, the accessories are placed into the context of contact with the eternity: as though the amber keeps a mystery in itself, and time comes to a halt inside it.
“IMPERSONATION” is a contemporary interpretation of the Ukrainian traditions. The collection shows us a new facet of the gemstone we all know, bringing it from the past to the present with a new meaning.
Photo by Vera Blansh