Kenneth Johnson

Kenneth Johnson is a metal smith who creates a wide variety of jewelry, ranging from old silver coin hair ornaments to one-of-a-kind jewelry boxes and cultural objects d’art of exquisite craftsmanship and artistry.
Johnson, a Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole was raised in Oklahoma and educated at Indian boarding schools. After four years of college studies in mechanical engineering, Johnson apprenticed himself with a Choctaw metal smith in 1988 to learn the trade for which he has become known. Independently refining these early-acquired silversmith skills, Johnson has developed a level of expertise that is unusual in such a young artist.
Johnson’s technical proficiency is complimented by his pursuit of creative innovation. Jewelry box lids often incorporate a detachable pin or pendant, while his beautifully stamped silver coins often display the original date of the coin. He renders these compositions in a variety of metals and colored stones. Johnson’s patterns include imagery from ancient Mound builder culture and other Native motifs and transforms them into surprisingly contemporary, abstract forms. While best known for stamp work and texturing of coins and precious metals, Johnson also takes judicious, painterly approach to the use of stones. He enjoys using a special variety of stones mined on the San Carlos Apache reservation in Arizona. Unusual specimens of peridot, chrome pyrope garnet, andradite and green garnet druzy often compliment his innovative designs.
The artist garnered a first place award for a coin silver animal sampler belt in his debut year at the Santa Fe Indian Market in 1995 and has since then proven his skills in many prestigious competitions around the country. The Southwest Association has chosen Kenneth for Indian Art for the prestigious 1997 SWAIA Artist’s Fellowship. Johnson has distinguished himself as one of the most talented and promising of new generation Native American metal artists.