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Vivienne Varay is a contemporary art jeweler whose work examines how materials carry emotional, cultural, and personal meaning. Her practice centers on the body and the ways adornment can shape experiences of identity, intimacy, and memory. Through jewelry and wearable objects, she investigates how emotional states and past relationships become embedded in the things we keep, wear, and discard.
She works primarily in metals and textiles, often incorporating found or symbolic materials such as pearls, fur, lead, and fabric. She treats these materials not only for their formal qualities, but for their histories and the ways they speak to vulnerability, power, and transformation. Her process often begins with a strong emotional response or a memory, which she explores through making. She approaches her studio practice as both research and reflection, combining traditional craft techniques with conceptual questions about what it means to wear, hold, or be marked by an object.
Based in Pullman, Washington, she serves as an Assistant Professor in Digital Technology and Culture at Washington State University. She holds an MFA from the University of Georgia and a BFA from Arizona State University. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at Hectare Galerie (Belgium), Heidi Lowe Gallery, Tincal Lab (Portugal), and Gallery2052 (Chicago).
ARTIST RESUME
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Feint-Hearted, D2 Gallery and Studio, Spokane, Washington
2024 Dolls, Munich Jewellery Week, Salon Nymphenburg, Eden Hotel Wolff, Munich, Germany
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 Black and White: An Achromatic Textile and Fiber Exhibition, William Scofield Gallery, Vancouver, Washington
2026 In Her Strength: A Craft Experience, Craft Alliance, St Louis, Missouri
2025 Seattle Metals Guild Biennial Exhibition, M. Rosetta Hunter Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2025 Turning Point, AMBER Expo, Gdańsk Jewellery Week 2025, Gdańsk, Poland, Juror: Ruudt Peters
2025 Stories of Water, Stories in Water, Rock Paper Scissors Collective, Oakland, Califonria, Jurors: Manon Wada and Irene Wibawa
2025 Amore, Heidi Lowe Gallery, Lewes, Delaware (Invitational)
2025 Rewriting Her Story: A Virtual Exhibition, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, Rhode Island
2024 Bestiaire Star, Hectare Galerie, Brussels, Belgium (Invitational)
2024 Jewelry and Travel, Uni.Versus Art Room, Athens, Greece
2024 Jewelry and Travel, Galleria Carlo Lucidi, Rome, Italy
2024 Jewelry and Travel, Lalabeyou, Madrid, Spain
2023 Dream Machine, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York
2023 Truth or Dare, Online Exhibition, AdornAxis, New York City Jewelry Week
2023 Jewelry and Travel, Tincal Lab, Porto, Portugal, Jurors: Ana Pina, Lara Solia Barenboim, Nóra Tengely
2023 #madforhoops, Gallery2052, Chicago, Illinois
2022 Verdant Bodies, Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, Juror: Diane Falkenhagen
2022 Romanian Jewelry Week, National Library of Romania, Bucharest, Romania
2021 Family Jewels: Peaches in the Apple, The Jewelry Library, New York, New York
2020 Show Us Your ‘Rona, Digital and Online Exhibition, TempContemp, Bridget Kennedy Project Space, Sydney, Australia
2020 Brooching the Subject, Online Exhibition, Balefire Goods, Arvada, Colorado
2020 Ware/Wear, Pocosin Arts, Columbia, North Carolina, Jurors: Zachery Lechtenberg, Mark Arnold, TaeHyun Bang
2020 Merkin Dreams, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, Maryland
2020 Metal Complexions, 2020 Houston Metal Arts Guild National Juried Exhibition, The Jung Center Gallery, Houston, Texas, Juror: Anna Walker
2020 Benefit Twenty-Twenty: Everyone Is a Collector, InLiquid Art + Design, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (catalog)
2019 Shame, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, Rhode Island, Juror: Anna Dempser
2019 Moments of Intimacy, the Mast, Atlanta, Georgia
2019 Ornement(ation), Galerie Lewis, Quebec, Canada
2019 Schmuck/Schmock?, TempContemp, Northcity4, Brunswick, Victoria, Australia (catalog)
2018 Anonymous Brooklyn, Brooklyn Metal Works, Brooklyn, New York
2018 DO YOU COPY?, TempContemp, Northcity4, Brunswick, Victoria, Australia (catalogue)
2018 13th Annual 2018 California Open, TAG Gallery, Los Angeles, California, Juror: Kim Abeles
2018 1996!, Trio Contemporary Art Gallery, Athens, Georgia, Jurors: Tatiana Veneruso, Jennie Cain, and Maggie Seee
2017 Nasty Women, The Knockdown Center, Maspeth, Queens, New York
2016 Forget Them, Brooklyn Metal Works, Brooklyn, New York, Jurors: Steven Gordon Holman, Erin S. Daily and Brian Weissman
2016 Tiny Universe Two, Hotel Indigo Art Gallery, Athens, Georgia, Curated by Didi Dunphy
2016 Whole Milk, Rogue Space, New York, New York,
2016 Master of Fine Arts Degree Candidates Exhibition, Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, Georgia
2016 True Blue, Baltimore Jewelry Center, Baltimore, Maryland
2016 Chain Reaction, Hotel Indigo Art Gallery, Athens, Georgia
2015 Unrequited Love, Glass Gallery, Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
2015 Round about, William Thompson Gallery, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
2015 Forms of Adornment: Flesh and the Erotic, Plaza Gallery, Lamar Dodd School of Art, Athens, Georgia (Curator, Participant)
2015 Paint the Town Red, Atrium, Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia (Curator)
2015 MENTOR/MENTEE, Athens Academy, Athens, Georgia
HONORS AND AWARDS
2023 January Artist of the Month, Lost in Jewellery Magazine, Rome, Italy
2015 Martha and Wilton Looney Foundation Graduate Fellowship, University of Georgia
2015 – 2016 Graduate Teaching Assistantship, University of Georgia
2014 Georgia Foundation Scholarship, Study Abroad Cortona, Italy, University of Georgia
2014 Judy Voss Jones Scholarship, Study Abroad Cortona, Italy, University of Georgia
2014 Coker Creek Scholarship, Study Abroad Cortona, Italy, University of Georgia
2013 – 2015 Graduate Assistantship, The Graduate School, University of Georgia
2010 – 2011 Student Enrichment Grant, Arizona State University
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2026 TheShed, Seattle, Washington
2026 South Porch Artist Residency, Charleston, South Carolina
2022 Pentaculum, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Organized by Emily Schaffer
PRESENTATIONS
2025 Artist Talk, Elevate Your Art, Metal Arts Guild San Francisco (virtual)
2025 Artist Talk, Rewriting Her Story: A Virtual Exhibition, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, Rhode Island (virtual)
2025 Artist Talk, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho
WORKSHOPS
2025 Expanding Enamel: Champlevé, Plique-à-jour, and more, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Interview. “Meet Vivienne Varay.” Bold Journey, 11 November. 2025. https://boldjourney.com/meet-vivienne-varay/
Interview. “Stories & Insights: Meet Vivienne Varay.” Canvas Rebel, 11 November. 2024. https://canvasrebel.com/meet-vivienne-varay/
Interview. “Special Feature.” The Washington Guild of Goldsmiths Newsletter Summer 2024, Published July 2024. www.washingtonguildofgoldsmiths.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/WGG-NEWSLETTER Summer-2024-2.pdf.
“AI in College: Educating Future Jewelers - Conversation with Vivienne Varay, Visual Artist/Lecturer.” Bling Talks, Spotify and YouTube Podcast Interview, 31 July 2024.
Image Feature, Bestiaire Star des bijoux, La Pointe, 22 April. 2024. https://www. https://lapointe.be/2024/04/22/bestiaire-star/
Tag Gallery Blog, 21 August. 2018. http://taggallery.blogspot.com/2018/08/
Parody, Judy. Responding to Texture. Applied Design, Community Forum Lesson Plan, 12 February. 2023.
Interview. Lost In Jewellery Magazine, January. 2023. https://www.lostinjewellerymagazine.com/past-artists-0f-the-month.html
Image Feature, 2018 CA Open Selections – Assemblage, Still Lifes, Objects, Tag Gallery Blog, 21 August. 2018. http://taggallery.blogspot.com/2018/08/
Dempster, Claire. "Vivienne Varay." Master of Fine Arts Degree Candidate Exhibition. Ed. Isabelle Loring Wallace. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. 2016. 34-35. Print.
Houser, Barbette. 'Chain Reaction' at Indigo Exhibits Playful Approach to Curation. Flagpole Magazine, 23 January. 2016.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP
2023 – Present Precious Collective
2020 – Present Klimt02
2018 – Present Art Jewelry Forum