KERI ATAUMBI

Raised on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, Keri Ataumbi grew up from an early age exposed to both traditional Native American aesthetics and contemporary art theory and practice. Keri attended Rhode Island School of Design before moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1990. There, she worked as a landscape designer while attending the Institute of American Indian Arts, eventually receiving her BFA in painting with a minor in art history from the College of Santa Fe. She currently lives and runs her jewelry business (Ataumbi Metals) in the Cerrillos Hills outside Santa Fe.

"I am interested in making work that acts to change the current platform of contemporary Native adornment that are defined by objects that conform to material choices and/or an aesthetic that is considered 'traditional,' Keri says. "I am interested in making work that transmutes the philosophical and ceremonial continuums that form the backbone of our identities as Native Americans. I am also interested in exploring the value systems that different cultures put upon materials and objects."