Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Kiff Slemmons

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.slemmo07
Creators:
Slemmons, Kiff
Riedel, Mija, 1958-
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
Dates:
2007 November 1-2
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
92 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Kiff Slemmons conducted 2007 November 1-2, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Slemmons' home and studio in Chicago, Illinois.
Scope and Contents
Slemmons speaks of her childhood growing up in a small town in Iowa; helping her mother in the town pharmacy; working the printing press with her dad, who published the town newspaper; taking art lessons in grade school; learning to play the piano; attending one year at Scripps College before living for a year in Paris; attending the University of Iowa majoring in French; taking basic art classes her senior year; a spring trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, with her future husband Rod; financing the trip by selling 150 pairs of earrings at the student art fair; visiting Monte Alban and being inspired by the ancient jewelry in Tomb 7; moving to Washington state; meeting Ella Steffens and doing jewelry repair work; a strong feeling of the maker's presence in work she repairs; the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi; imperfection as an attractive quality; the conscious decision made from jewelry making to art making, based more in ideas and concepts as opposed to simple decoration; series Hands of Heros, Figures of Speech; the importance of exhibiting her work as it would be seen worn as opposed to in cases under glass; the development of her breastplate pieces; the Top 10 Ethnic Hits; the layering of many meanings as well as materials in her work; her respect for the brevity of poetry and love of Emily Dickinson's work; the restraint of poetry in leaving things unsaid and her struggle to capture that essence; series Re:Pair and Imperfection coming out of her move to Chicago and the developing Iraq War; her workbench as an ever-changing sketchbook full of chaos, tension, and conversation; working with Francisco Toledo and the city of Oaxaca in developing paper jewelry; her travels to India, Africa, Mexico, and Japan; her piece Insectopedia and the great interest shown in it by entomologists; and her desire to send her work out in the world where it is seen and enjoyed. Slemmons also recalls Ramona Solberg, David LaPlantz, Leo Adams, Esther Knobel, Lloyd Herman, Dominic DiMare, Walter Benjamin, Hannah Hoch, Annette Messager, Virginia Holshuh, and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Kiff Slemmons (1944- ) is a metal artist from Chicago, Illinois. Interviewer Mija Riedel is a curator and writer from San Francisco, California.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

Digital Content


More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 13 digital wav files. Duration is 7 hr., 19 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Metal-workers -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Jewelry makers -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Decorative arts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Solberg, Ramona Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Steffins, Ella Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Toledo, Francisco, 1940- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Herman, Lloyd E. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Di Mare, Dominic, 1932- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Adams, Leo Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Benjamin, Walter Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Knobel, Esther, 1949- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
La Plantz, David Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Höch, Hannah, 1889-1978 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Holshuh, Virginia Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Messager, Annette, 1943- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
University of Iowa -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scripps College -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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