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Leather has always been one of my favorite materials. My desire to observe, to learn and to try something new brought me to the books and museums of decorative art. There I saw ancient samples of decorative art - book covers, jewelry caskets, decorative upholstery for carriages etc - made in a complicated technique of leather mosaic (known as "Leather Intarsia"). This technique was used by Italian and French artisans in 17-18th centuries, but is almost forgotten today because of its complexity and the great amount of labor involved.
My impression was so powerful,
that it evoked insuperable desire to "revive" this ancient
technique and to apply it to contemporary themes and forms. Thus my
collection of leather
artworks, on which I have been working for several years, was born.
Here
I use
natural leather, suede and lacquer instead of paintbrush, paints and
canvas,
creating a novel, unique expression. I fully believe that other works
like
these simply do not exist.
The magic warmth of leather,
the velvety
feeling of suede, the self-confident elegance of lacquer, and their
eroticism -
all this creates a feeling of “presence”, while the
leather’s texture and its
ability to radiate sensuality and intimacy have such an
enigmatic attraction that it is difficult to refrain from
touching the
picture.
Digging in the storehouse
through the heaps
of leather, much of which, aside from future handbags and shoes, will
be thrown
away because of defects and mildew, I wanted to give a second life to
this
rejected leather, to "revive" it into something new, to grant
it a continued existence
And at last, the most important
–
"revival"
of my passionate desire of creativity. I wish that
the beauty and originality of handiwork, despite the amount of labor
involved,
will not lose its uniqueness and individuality in our super-civilized
and hasty
21st century.
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Lora
Verhovsky
1944 Born in former
Soviet UnionArtist, Designer Member of Israeli Proffessional Artists Association 1971 Graduated from Latvian State Academy of Art 1976 Immigrated to Israel |
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Gregory
Ostrovsky - Art Critic, Doctor in Art History.
Not each artist, even
undoubtedly talented, succeeds to create its unique style, to say its
own Word
in the Art. For this are necessary: courage of pioneer, persistently
laying ways into the unknown, freedom of creative
self-expression and independence of the figurative thinking, risen
above the
pragmatism of standard norms and criteria, and , finally, limitless
dedication to
its cause, fantastic diligence, originality of the mature and processed
artistic idea.
All
this
is gathered
in Lora
Verhovsky's works. The artist creates the most unique, large and
beautiful
leather pictures, not only contemplative, but also tangible-sensual.
Nothing like
this has ever been done before.
Moreover,
singularity
of creative experiment and its
productivity allocate to the artist a place in a context of the modern
avant-garde,
updating and expanding a range of the decorative and fine arts of the
beginning
of 21-st century.
Lora
Verkhovsky is the
graduate of the Latvian State Academy of Art, And it has strengthened
her
ability not only to possess congenital deep and refined perception of
Beauty, but
also to transfer it, presenting in the most various materials, their
features
and restrictions, to find the unique way to convey this beauty to the
spectator,
giving us unexpected and surprising impression.
Lora
itself tells
about it emotionally, poetically
and at the same time extremely precisely and adequately: "...
Magic feeling of Leather warmth, velvety feel of Chamois,
self confidence in it's elegance of Lacquer, eroticism - all this
create a
feeling of "presence", while Leather texture and it's ability to
radiate sensuality and intimacy have such an enigmatic attraction that
it is
difficult to contain the desire to touch the picture"
Amazing ability to see and to
imagine the future artwork in the separate pieces of leather and suede,
in
their colors, structure, and often in their defects – from
all this the Miracle
begins - the Miracle of transformation of usual material into the
Material of
real Art.
Lora
Verhovsky has created its own style,
bright and unique which has connected imagination and reality into the
something
new, something that has never been seen before. Having accepted 'the
game's rules', which were offered to us, we cannot be released from
under its magic authority any more. Having crossed monosemantic
plausibility, Lora creates the world in
which rule the fantasy and imagination, graceful stylization and
courageous,
but always justified, deformation. And in each work virtuosity and
elegance,
feeling of a measure and taste, freshness and originality of the
creative idea.
The
world in Lora's artworks is diverse and
colorful - exotic first spring flowers, which are so decorating our
life, soft
landscapes and abstract compositions, original interiors and not
ordinary
sensuality, tragic destiny of Mary
Stuart and the 'dry' map of Israel,
which revives to the life and becomes 'warm'. Very
much
intrigue the stylized silhouettes of the Cats so caressed by love, the
Horses and the Butterflies, the Crocodiles silently storing the
centuries secrets.
Each
significant work of art is implanted in today's
time. Retrospective into the past gives the prospects and ideas for the
future,
which is always associated with the progress, technology and
modernization,
but: "I
would like" - the
artist says, - "that the
Beauty and the uniqueness of the "work by
hands" would not be lost in our super-civilized and hasty 21-st century".
Dr.
Gregory
Ostrovsky
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