Salomé Lippuner: Of lacquer, shadow and gold

Artist list

Salomé Lippuner

From 24th May, the Gallery will be showcasing the Urushi jewellery of Salomé Lippuner, an internationally acclaimed artist still little-known in France. The Swiss jeweller chose“Urushi”, the Japanese lacquer, to highlight the grace of the contours of the human body.

We focus on the period of Salomé Lippuner’s residence in Paris in 2012, where she was granted a studio at the Cité Internationale des Arts by the “Bern Design Foundation” to show the works that were created then. During her stay, she set herself the task of creating jewellery using a limited number of tools. She said: “the limits created stimulation and often demanded a change of approach”.


Salomé Lippuner and Urushi
Salomé Lippuner’s first memory of lacquer dates back to a visit to a childhood friend’s home. The play of light on the lacquer still holds the same fascination for her today. Later, in Paris, before training as a jeweller, she had another striking esthetic encounter, in the course of her architectural meanderings, with Eileen Gray’s lacquered paravents: Salomé Lippuner was bowled over not only by the artist and her admirable works, but also by the revelation that it was possible to create modern forms with urushi!

For Salomé, designing lacquered pieces is like breathing – it’s an absolute necessity. It also helped her discover that urushi isa vast playing ground for trying out new ideas and that jewelry was adapted to its incredible demands. "To enhance a lacquered surface, often in contrast with the divine brilliance of a precious stone, is a moment of bliss every time. But it is also a victory over a very demanding matter, because the more you try to master it, the more it masters you"