ARTIST'S STATEMENT

I create jewelry objects that make visible our interactions with structure and movement. My adornments are performative sculptures for one's ears, architecture for the body. I look closely at our everyday environments: telephone wires suspended amidst tall evergreens, the negative space stretching between neighboring skyscrapers. Using cold-form fabrication, I build wire structures that pare down these environments to simple line modules. I then wrap translucent paper around sections of each form. My papers, which I create using Philippine plant fibers and vibrant pigments, become taught kites of color that highlight ephemeral negative space. On the wearer, my adornments come alive. Each non-soldered jewelry structure moves independent of the others, dancing on the ears, neck and wrists of the wearer. Like leaves on a tree limb, my adornments punctuate the wearer's movement and expression. Just as a door or window makes a room useful, it is the wearer that awakens my work.

EDUCATION

Post Baccalaureate, Fibers and Material Studies, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 2006

Bachelor of Arts, Major Studio Art, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN, 2004

Traditional Textiles & Music and Contemporary Gender Studies, University of Ghana, West Africa, 2002

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

Earrings Galore, Heidi Lowe Gallery, Rehoboth Beach, DE, 2011

30 Small Works, Gallery Up, Rock Hill, SC, 2011

Seattle Metals Guild Biennial, Seattle, WA, 2011

Indulge, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA, 2011

Rock, Paper, Scissors/Paper, Artisans on Taylor Gallery, Port Townsend, WA, 2010

Jewels, Artisans on Taylor Gallery, Port Townsend, WA, 2010

Falling, two person exhibition, Poppy Metals Gallery, Washington, D.C., 2010

Sonic Antarctica, sound art collaboration with Andrea Polli, McMurdo Station, Antarctica, 2008

Lima, Mike, November, performance with video composition, Chicago, IL, 2008

Streamline for Victory, Goat Island Symposium, collaborative performance, Chicago, IL, 2008

Beauracray and Bliss, performance, McMurdo Station, Antarctica, 2008

Ritual, online video project, www.tiakramer.blogspot.com, Seattle, WA, 2008

Ice Woman, performance video project, Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica, 2007

Ice Action, performance and installation, McMurdo Station, Antarctica, 2007

Unperformed Events, public art installation spanning 27 miles, Chicago, IL, 2007

Last Stand, text installation, g2 and Project Space, Chicago, IL, 2006

Contingere, sound installation, Saic Sharp Building, Chicago, IL, 2006

Habituating, SAIC Graduate Thesis Exhibition, video and sound installation, Chicago, IL, 2006

Quartet, sculpture installation, Offbeat Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, 2005

Weighting, Thesis Exhibition, installation & drawings, Janet Wallace Fine Art Gallery, St. Paul, MN, 2004

Box Fresh, soap factory, Minneapolis, MN, 2004

Suspended Flight, permanent public art installation, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN, 2003

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Curator, Exhibition in Motion: Objects Performed, SNAG Seattle, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA, 2011

Curator, McMurdo Alterntative Art Gallery, Ross Island, McMurdo Station, Antarctica, 2007-2008

Collaborator and Field Assistant for Andrea Polli, Sound and Installation Artist, Ross Island Antarctica, 2008

Field Assistant for Lita Abuquerque, Installation Artists, Performer and Vehicle Operator, Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica, 2007

Designer and Studio Asssistant, Solar Sustainable Handbags Designer, NOON Solar, Chicago, IL 2006

Teen Programs Coordinator, Minnesota Center for the Book Arts. Minneapolis, MN 2004-2005

Public Installation Artist. Produced two large scale commissioned sculptures for Macalester College, St. Paul, MN 2004

Studio Assistant for Mary Hark, Fiber and Paper Artist, St. Paul, MN, 2000-2004

Studio Assistant, Susan Shinnick Studios, Iowa City, IA, 2003

Fibers Field Researcher for Queen Mamaga Afedima II, Abaudi, Ghana, West Africa 2002

TEACHING

Instructor, Wire Constructions, Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle, WA 2011

Visiting Artist, Mobile & Sculpture Instruction, Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle, WA, 2010

Visiting Instructor, Permeable Membranes: 3D Papermaking, SAIC, Chicago, IL, 2007

Visiting Instructor, Advanced Paper and Bookmaking, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN, 2005

Instructor, Sculptural Papermaking, Bookmaking & Conceptual Book Arts, Minnesota Center for the Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN 2004-2005

Instructor, Sculptural Papermaking Workshop, College of Visual Arts, Minneapolis, MN, 2000

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

American Craft Magazine, On the Radar, Dec 2011-Jan 2012

Niche Magazine, April 2011: Innovative Jewelry with Non-Traditional Materials, 2011

Exquisite, Eccentric Jewelry Art at Bellevue Arts Museum, Seattle Times, NW Source, February 2011

Earth 911 & Green Collar Earth, Sustainable Art Practice Feature by Libuse Binder, March 2010

Timeout Chicago, Print Publication, May 2009, Coveted Favorite: Art Institute of Chicago Shop, 2009

Seattle Times, NW Source, Handmade Paper Takes Flight…, June 2009

Seattle Times, Holiday Gift Guide, Top Ten Picks of 2009, November 2009

GRANTS AND AWARDS

Artist in Excellence, Indulge Jewelry Marketplace, Bellvue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA, 2011

Artist Trust Edge Professional Development Recipient, Seattle, WA, 2011

SAIC Presidential Scholarship, Department of Fiber and Material Studies, 2005

Highest Academic Honors in Fine Arts and National Dean's Honors Award, Macalester College, 2004

Best in Show, Janet Wallace Fine Arts Gallery, St. Paul, MN. 2004

Keck Research Grant and Public Art Fellowship, 2004

Dewitt-Wallace Scholarship for Commitment to the Global Community, 2002

Gillman Scholar Travel Grant, 2002

University of Iowa Tuition Grant, 2002

Macalester College Presidential Scholar Grants, 1999 through 2004