Kiff Slemmons (born 1944) is a contemporary American
metalsmith
A metalsmith or simply smith is a craftsperson fashioning useful items (for example, tools, kitchenware, tableware, jewelry, armor and weapons) out of various metals. Smithing is one of the oldest list of metalworking occupations, metalworking o ...
. She received her B.A. in Art and French at the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
, but is primarily known for her career in jewelry and metals. Slemmons currently resides in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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. Her work is collected by many notable museums and personalities, including the late
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
.
Childhood and early life
Kiff Slemmons was born in
Maxton, North Carolina
Maxton is a town in Robeson and Scotland counties, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,426 at the time of the 2010 U.S. Census.
History
The Maxton area was first settled in the 18th century. The community was incorporated in 1874 ...
, but grew up in Iowa. The child of a pharmacist and newspaper publisher, Slemmons developed a love of the printed word and the Linotype early in life.
Education
In 1962 Slemmons enrolled in Scripps College in Claremont, California for comparative literature, but left shortly for the Sorbonne in Paris, France in 1963.
[Curriculum Vitae, Kiff Slemmons. Published Nancy Sachs Gallery.] She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1968 at the University of Iowa and later attended an eight-week metals program in Japan through
Parsons The New School for Design
Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...
in 1983.
Works
Since 2000, Slemmons has been recognized for her work with Mexican artists making and designing paper jewelry, resulting in colorful and intricate pieces using traditional bead-making techniques and dyes from indigenous plants.
Her own work includes historical and literary references, incorporating selected found objects, generally non-precious materials, which she fabricates into detailed pieces with silver and other metals. Slemmons expresses that three threads run through her work, "scale, the language of material and the idea of more than one to make one. She rejects the traditional valuation of jewelry based on the materials used, focusing instead on the ideas that go into each piece.
In her exhibition ''The Thought of Things'', Slemmons made jewelry that used parts of aged photographs, rulers, typewriters, and other found objects in order to elicit a direct personal response. Another series of works that question worth and value was the much talked-about ''Re:Pair and Imperfection''. In the process of preparing the series, she asked some of her peers to give her pieces that are unfinished because they are unwanted or somehow flawed.
She used thirty donated objects of varying materials in the exhibition, which included wearables and sculptures with ornate details.
Her intention was to make the viewer question the nature of imperfection and contemplate the new meaning of unconventional repair.
Although much of Slemmons' work references her early life and the time spent at her father's newspaper office, incorporating pencils and text, some of the artist's most recent work uses ancient artifacts and pays homage to ancient artisans and the persistence of the human spirit.
Selected collections
*
The Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
*The
Museum of Arts and Design
The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the mus ...
*The
Renwick Gallery
The Renwick Gallery is a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum located in Washington, D.C. that displays American craft and decorative arts from the 19th to 21st century. The gallery is housed in a National Historic Landmark building that ...
*
Mint Museum
The Mint Museum, also referred to as The Mint Museums, is a cultural institution comprising two museums, located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Mint Museum Randolph and Mint Museum Uptown, together these two locations have hundreds of collection ...
*The
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Build ...
*The
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
Selected exhibitions
* ''Huesos'', Gallery Loupe, Montclair, NJ, 2012
* ''Ramona and Friends'', Facèré Art Gallery, Seattle, WA, 2001
* ''The Thought of Things: Jewelry by Kiff Slemmons'', Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA, 2000
* ''Schmuchszene '95'', Munich Germany, 1995
* Solo Exhibition, Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, MA, 1994
* Solo Exhibition, Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley, CA, 1993
* ''Documents Northwest: Six Jewelers'', Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA, 1993
References
External links
Bear Claw NecklaceSconce BroochFish Slice, 2003Little Egypt, 1999
Feature in Craft in America, PBSOral History Interview with Archives of American Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slemmons, Kiff
1944 births
Living people
American blacksmiths
Women metalsmiths
20th-century American artists
20th-century American women artists
21st-century American artists
21st-century American women artists
University of Iowa alumni
Scripps College alumni
People from Maxton, North Carolina
Artists from Chicago
Artists from Iowa
Artists from North Carolina