PROFILE

As a child, I would ride my bike for hours, trying to get lost by taking random turns in new directions. Today, I do the same when creating a piece of jewelry. I start with a gemstone, technique, color or idea and then pull beads or metal out of drawers and closets, grouping them together as inspiration dictates.(Generally covering any and all available flat surfaces.) I rarely end up doing what I originally intended, which is why this process is so exciting. One idea invariably leads to the next...

However, I've found that inspiration without a foundation of technical expertise tends to result in jewelry that falls apart. I've learned my craft by making samples in "Indian Jewelry" factories in New Mexico. I've learned from experts like Samuel Beizer and Tony Lent at F.I.T. in Manhattan and Lane Trubey, a Michigan-based platinumsmith. I've been doing beadwork incessantly since 1985 and I've knotted and repaired thousands of strings of beads for the trade.I've made plenty of mistakes and learned from most of them. I've been happy to learn from others' mistakes as well.

I make work that applies the sensibilities and techniques of "tribal" jewelry to fine jewelry materials. My goal: to bring beadwork into the realm of couture jewelry while solving the technical and aesthetic puzzles involved in creating beautiful pieces of jewelry that people enjoy wearing.

RESUME

Education
Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Master of Fine Arts May 2008

Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York. Associate in Applied Science (Jewelry Studio), May, 19,1993

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico.Bachelor of Arts (Studio), December 1991

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Bachelor of Arts (Creative Arts), May 1986

Awards
Third Place Cash Award
1996 Annual Silver Medal Exhibition
The Scarab Club, Detroit, Michigan

Charles Mattox Prize 1991
Sculpture Award, University of New Mexico

Collections
Museum of Art and Design, New York, New York.
Barbara Tober Jewelry Collection

Exhibitions (Selected)
January 2009, "Equilibrium: Body as Site", Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts, El Paso, Texas

November 2001, 2002, 2006 Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show ,Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

February 2001, July 2002, February 2003 American Craft Council Show Baltimore, Maryland







1998-Present, Annual One Person Show
Yaw Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan

1997-1998, "Splendors of Ancient Egypt"
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit
Lecture, Demonstration, and Exhibition of Egyptian Broad Collars

1997-Present, SOFA
Chicago and New York

1996, "Beadwork: Beyond Boundaries"
Contemporary Artifacts Gallery, Berea, Kentucky

Publications
Metalsmith Exhibition in Print, August 2008

Vogue, December 2005, Bracelets in still life, and in fashion story

In Style magazine, June 2001, March 2002

Advanced Beadwork by Ruth Poris, Works appear as examples

ELLE magazine, June 1989