By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
A former criminology professor has begun her ``second life'' as a jewelry designer. After 30 years of teaching at Kookmin University, Kim In-sook has turned a therapeutic hobby into a full-fledged career.
``I want people to know that life can start at 65,'' the 69-year-old told The Korea Times, speaking in fluent English. She was part of the first generation of Koreans to study abroad after the Korean War (1950-53), and earned degrees at Oklahoma State University and New York University.
``I'm not a trained jeweler or craftsperson, but it's better that way. I have an excuse if it's not perfect,'' she laughed. ``But it gives me freedom and creativity to go in any direction I want.'' And such freedom has put her on the map as an innovator.
Kim set the trend in Korea for big, bold accessories, and her works are much coveted in the diplomatic and celebrity circles. They're also sold at the upscale gift shop in Leeum Samsung Museum of Art in central Seoul. Last year, she held an exhibition with Lisa Vershbow, jewelry designer and wife of the American ambassador to Korea.
It all started from a pastime. An avid traveler, Kim had collected chests full of beads from markets in China, India and North Africa. Spending a good part of her life visiting correctional institutes and seeing all the tormented prisoners was ``depressing,'' so she would fiddle with her beautiful collection. ``I think it was a counter-reaction to the really awful scenes I saw,'' she said. ``I'd tell myself it was time for meditation.''
``About 12 years ago, a friend asked me what I'd do with all these beads. I realized I should do something with all them,'' she said. Kim started making simple necklaces for herself and it became a fulltime job when she retired five years ago. She works with a metal smith to mix and match beads, semiprecious stones and reusable parts of antique accessories.
Isn't it difficult for her to bid farewell to these remnants from her past? ``No. It's most rewarding when I see people wearing my pins,'' she said. ``They're beads. They're pretty but you can let go of them. It also gives me an excuse to go to India or Tunisia to shop for more,'' winked the jewelry designer, who prefers to call herself a ``beads crafter.''
Her works don't glisten with gold and diamonds, but embody an eclectic mix of different cultures and aesthetics. While they strongly evoke Korean folk art, they possess hints of ethnicity, a dash of European delicacy and touch of American modernity.