Category
2026, Jewelry (Precious Metal)Artist Website: www.katherinekaya.com
Bio:
The jewelry we wear tells the world exactly who we are. While studying at Vanderbilt, I had never done anything traditionally creative. My own path shifted on my 21st birthday when my mother gifted me a bracelet. I felt like it was made specifically for me, and I asked how she found it. She replied, “I simply described you to the jeweler and he picked it out.” When I later asked my mom if she had any clue I had a creative side growing up, she laughed and said, “Well, you always liked to dress funny and did things differently.”
Literally, a bracelet changed my life course. I came home that summer, introduced myself to that jeweler, took a class with him, and picked up a torch on day one. I discovered a creative passion I never knew existed. After college, I bought a one-way ticket to London and was gone for a year. When I came home, I declared to my parents, “I am going to be a jeweler!” I never took another class. Through 38 years of dedication, trial, and error, I taught myself traditional metalsmithing to forge bold, geometric wearable structures entirely by hand. My aesthetic has never changed. My pieces are designed in sterling silver with small accents in gold, set with intense pops of vibrant, colored stones.” And yes, I still have that bracelet and I wear it at every art show!
Artist Statement:
A modern design aesthetic plus my love of color is the starting point for my jewelry. Each piece is hand-fabricated, textured and oxidized in SS with 18K & 14K Gold accents with bezel set gemstones.