Bio + Statement

Kristi Rae Wilson received her MFA in Jewelry/Metals from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Here she was the recipient of the Creative and Performing Arts Fellowship and the Brodie Material Grant. Her work has been included in international and national publications and exhibited throughout the United States. The Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) awarded her the Educational Endowment Scholarship to participate in the Jewelry Opere Workshop (Netherlands) where she studied with contemporary jeweler, Ruudt Peters. Wilson, was an Artist-In-Resident at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (2010-2011), a guest lecturer at Bowling Green State University (2012) and New Mexico State University (2014). Recently, her work was published in the Society of Arts and Crafts Handmade Jewelry and Adornment catalogue, page 27 (2024). The Museum of East Texas invited her to offer a lecture and solo exhibition “Twenty-Year Waltz” in Lufkin, Texas (2025). Her recent work was on exhibit at New York Jewelry Week where she exhibited in the Missed Connections Exhibition at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY (2024). Wilson has taught fine art courses at the University of New Mexico for over 10 years. Currently she teaches Jewelry and Small Metals Construction, Drawing and Introduction to Art History as a Lecturer III.

As an artist and educator, I engage communities through exhibitions, workshops, and collaborative making, using jewelry as a catalyst for dialogue about care, service, and belonging. Exhibited nationally and internationally, my work invites viewers to reflect on the ways love, memory, and acts of connection shape our lives and communities.

My work is deeply rooted in themes of memory, healing, and human connection. Drawing from personal experiences of family, loss, and resilience, I transform everyday materials, handwritten words, textiles, and metal into contemporary jewelry and wearable objects that challenge traditional notions of value. Through processes such as embroidery, etching, and reconstruction, my pieces preserve stories and create tangible connections between people, objects, and shared experiences.