Kiff Slemmons

Kiff Slemmons (born 1944) is a contemporary American metalsmith and performance artist. She studied art and French at the University of Iowa, but is self-taught as a metalsmith. Slemmons currently resides in Chicago, Illinois.

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.^{[citation needed]}

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 rejects the traditional valuation of jewelry based on 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. These works 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.

External links

• Bear Claw Necklace
• Sconce Brooch
• Feature in Craft in America, PBS