About
Contact
Shop
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).
Curriculum Vitae
EDUCATION
Master of Fine Arts, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, May 2016
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, May 2012
Associate of Fine Arts, Glendale Community College, Glendale, AZ, May 2009
RELATED EXPERIENCE
Assistant Professor, Digital Technology & Culture, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, August 2025 – Present
Lecturer, Digital Technology & Culture, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, August 2023 – May 2025
Graduate Teaching Assistantship, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, August 2015 – May 2016
Graduate Assistantship, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, August 2013 – May 2015
COURSES TAUGHT
Washington State University
Social Media Practices, DTC 331, Spring 2024, Summer 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Summer 2025, Fall 2025
Senior Seminar [CAPS], DTC 497, Spring 2026
Special Topics: Creating with and Critiquing AI, DTC 338, Spring 2026
Introduction to 3D Digital Animation, DTC 335, Spring 2026 (x2), Spring 2024 (x2), Spring 2025(x2)
Internet Revolutions [COMM], DTC 202, Winter Intercession 2025
Digital Tools and Methods [ARTS], DTC 201, Fall 2023 (x2), Fall 2025 (x2)
Social Media Case Studies, DTC 330, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Fall 2025
Advanced Animation, DTC 435, Spring 2025 (with Jacob Riddle)
Special Topics: 3d Modeling and Fabrication, DTC 338, Spring 2025 (with Jacob Riddle)
Professional Preparation [M], DTC 301, Fall 2024 (x2)
Introduction to Digital Cinema, DTC 208, Fall 2023
Multimedia Design, DTC 336, Fall 2023
University of Georgia
Jewelry and Metals: Design and Construction, ARST 2600, Fall 2015, Spring 2016
SELECT EXHIBITIONS
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
2025 Seattle Metals Guild Biennial Exhibition, M. Rosetta Hunter Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington
Turning Point, AMBER Expo, Gdańsk Jewellery Week 2025, Gdańsk, Poland, Juror: Ruudt Peters
Stories of Water, Stories in Water, Rock Paper Scissors Collective, Oakland, Califonria, Jurors: Manon Wada and Irene Wibawa
Amore, Heidi Lowe Gallery, Lewes, Delaware (Invitational)
Rewriting Her Story: A Virtual Exhibition, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, Rhode Island
2024 Bestiaire Star, Hectare Galerie, Brussels, Belgium (Invitational)
Jewelry and Travel, Uni.Versus Art Room, Athens, Greece
Jewelry and Travel, Galleria Carlo Lucidi, Rome, Italy
Jewelry and Travel, Lalabeyou, Madrid, Spain
2023 Dream Machine, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York
Truth or Dare, Online Exhibition, AdornAxis, New York City Jewelry Week
Jewelry and Travel, Tincal Lab, Porto, Portugal, Jurors: Ana Pina, Lara Solia Barenboim, Nóra Tengely
#madforhoops, Gallery2052, Chicago, Illinois
2022 Verdant Bodies, Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, Juror: Diane Falkenhagen
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
Brooching the Subject, Online Exhibition, Balefire Goods, Arvada, Colorado
Ware/Wear, Pocosin Arts, Columbia, North Carolina, Jurors: Zachery Lechtenberg, Mark Arnold, TaeHyun Bang
Merkin Dreams, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, Maryland
Metal Complexions, 2020 Houston Metal Arts Guild National Juried Exhibition, The Jung Center Gallery, Houston, Texas, Juror: Anna Walker
Benefit Twenty-Twenty: Everyone Is a Collector, InLiquid Art + Design, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (catalog)
2019 Shame, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, Rhode Island, Juror: Anna Dempser
Moments of Intimacy, the Mast, Atlanta, Georgia
Ornement(ation), Galerie Lewis, Quebec, Canada
Schmuck/Schmock?, TempContemp, Northcity4, Brunswick, Victoria, Australia (catalog)
2018 Anonymous Brooklyn, Brooklyn Metal Works, Brooklyn, New York
DO YOU COPY?, TempContemp, Northcity4, Brunswick, Victoria, Australia (catalogue)
13th Annual 2018 California Open, TAG Gallery, Los Angeles, California, Juror: Kim Abeles
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
Tiny Universe Two, Hotel Indigo Art Gallery, Athens, Georgia, Curated by Didi Dunphy
Whole Milk, Rogue Space, New York, New York,
Master of Fine Arts Degree Candidates Exhibition, Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, Georgia
True Blue, Baltimore Jewelry Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Chain Reaction, Hotel Indigo Art Gallery, Athens, Georgia
2015 Unrequited Love, Glass Gallery, Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
Round about, William Thompson Gallery, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
Forms of Adornment: Flesh and the Erotic, Plaza Gallery, Lamar Dodd School of Art, Athens, Georgia (Curator, Participant)
Paint the Town Red, Atrium, Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia (Curator)
MENTOR/MENTEE, Athens Academy, Athens, Georgia
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
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
UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT SERVICE
2026 – Present Social Media Manager, Department of Digital Technology and Culture, Washington State University
2024 – Present Awards and Scholarship Newsletter, Department of Digital Technology and Culture, Washington State University
2024 Search Committee Member, Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Digital Technology and Culture, Washington State University
2023 – 2024 Equipment Management, Department of Digital Technology and Culture, Washington State University
2016 Exhibition Installation Assistant, Parallels: Jonathan Wahl & Sondra Sherman, Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia, Curated by Mary Hallam Pearse
2015 Instructor, Boy Scouts Workshop, Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia
2015 Graduate Student Representative, Assistant Professor of Jewelry and Metalworking Search Committee, Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia
UNIVERSITY SERVICE
2025 Judge, SURCA, Washington State University
2025 Reviewer, Undergraduate Research Awards, Office of Undergraduate Research, Washington State University
2024 Judge, Creative JAM, Academic Outreach & Innovation, Washington State University
2024 Judge, SURCA, Washington State University
2023 – Present Faculty Advisor, Photography Club, Washington State University
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
2025 – Present Board of Directors Treasurer, Seattle Metals Guild, Seattle, Washington
2024 Board Observer, Arts Innovator Award, Artist Trust, Seattle, Washington
2025 – Present Board Member Secretary, Artist Trust, Seattle, Washington
2024 – Present Board Member, Artist Trust, Seattle, Washington
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP
2023 – Present Precious Collective
2020 – Present Klimt02
2018 – Present Art Jewelry Forum
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2022 Pentaculum, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Organized by Emily Schaffer
2015 Crown Residency, Painting & Drawing, Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia, Organized by Micheal Ross
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Interview. “Meet Vivienne Varay.” Bold Journey, 11 November. 2026. 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.