Hanna Hedman, artist portrait, photo: Sanna Lindberg Susan Cummins: Can you tell me about your background and how you decided to become a jeweler? Hanna Hedman: I have always been creative. As a young child, I loved making objects and drawings. My family always encouraged my creativity, even though they were not artists themselves. I […]
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Kristin Lora, Leg, 2013, ring, sterling silver, plastic animal legs, 2.5 x 1.5 inches, photo: artist Susan Cummins: Can you talk about the title of the show and why you chose the idea of a ring exhibition? Jane Groover: A lot of our business involves clients who are getting married, and having an assortment of
Jeweler April Higashi runs Shibumi Gallery in Berkeley, California. She shows mainly local jewelers and American jewelers who make well-designed, wearable work. Her gallery is located in a retail/manufacturing area, and her living quarters are right above the gallery. It is a wonderful space. April has discovered a lovely maker named Maya Kini, who is having her first full-scale solo show, Silk, at the gallery. Maya brings a complex background to her work.
Susan Cummins: Maya, can you tell me about your background? Your place of origin? Your schooling? How you became a jeweler?
Maya Kini: I was born and raised in the Boston area, the fourth of five children by parents from vastly different worlds. My mother is Italian American from New England, and my father emigrated from India in 1957 to get his PhD. He decided to stay in the US after meeting my mother. From a young age, I was given jewelry by visiting Indian relatives—bangles, anklets, and fine gold chains. Adornment begins at a young age in India and evolves into a complex language of beauty, wealth, and status.
I studied sculpture and literature at Reed College and eventually wrote my thesis on the translation of Catholicism and its earliest dispersion into New Spain. I received my degree in Spanish literature in 2000. In 1996, I was introduced to jewelry making in Mexico, and that seed developed into further study, apprenticeships with other jewelers, and eventually an MFA in metalsmithing from Cranbrook Academy of Art. I received my degree in 2007 under the guidance of Gary Griffin (2005–2006) and Iris Eichenberg (2006–2007). Currently, I operate my own small studio that focuses on commissions, multiples, and one-of-a-kind pieces.
Maya Kini, Fray, 2013, brooch, oxidized silver, stainless steel, silk, 3 x 0.5 inch, courtesy of Shibumi Gallery, photo: Shibumi Gallery Susan Cummins: Maya, can you tell me about your background? Your place of origin? Your schooling? How you became a jeweler? Maya Kini: I was born and raised in the Boston area, the fourth
We believe that it was a particular level of interest in contemporary jewelry that prompted you to become a member of AJF. We assume you spend a sizable amount of your time looking at other platforms, reading books and reviews we have not read, seeing exhibitions we will not see—basically shaping an independent point of
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Quattro Padovani e un Torinese, Annamaria Zanella, sculpture, and Giampaolo Babetto, drawings, June 2012, photo: Ellen Maurer-Zilioli Kellie Riggs: Please explain how your gallery functions as a cultural association. Ellen Maurer-Zilioli: We are living between north and south, between Germany and Italy. From the beginning, I was interested in some sort of cultural exchange. I
