The Buzz VOICES OF THE BAY
By Nina Murphy
Natural Instincts A love of location and geology informs the work of Bristol jewelry maker Kendall Reiss Tucked between a fish market and a century-old clapboard hardware store on Bristol’s Wood Street sits a mid-century building housing the Kendall Reiss Gallery & Studio. A contemporary jewelry artist, Reiss has a BS in Geology from Dickinson College in Pennsylvania and received her MFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing from Rhode Island School of Design. The Bristol native is a professor and the 3D and Performance Department chair at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMF) at Tufts University in Boston. A tactical learner from a young age, Reiss was drawn to geology because it allowed her to use her hands and be outside. After college, she worked for her family’s Newport charter boat business and was often drawn to the windows of Alloy Gallery, propelling her on a path of handicraft classes before pursuing her MFA. Reiss’ work is inspired by the world around her, including the daily activity and history of Wood Street. With its magnificent floor-to-ceiling glass pane windows, the space also functions as a gallery showcasing the work of emerging artists. KendallReiss.com BOXES OF BAUBLES: As a kid, I remember sitting in front of my mom’s and my grandmother’s jewelry boxes, spending hours, fascinated, looking through those things. I’ve always sort of been a collector of stuff, walking and picking things up along the shoreline. I took black-and-white photography in high school and loved that. I could never draw really well or paint so I thought, “Oh, I must not be a real artist.” WINDOW DRESSING: On my walking commute in Newport early in the morning and late at night, I would look in the window of Alloy Gallery [before it moved to Bellevue Avenue]. One rainy day, I went in. That was my first entry point into not commercial jewelry, thinking about an artist who has a different take on design. That was really different for me.
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The Bay • February 2023
Photos by Jen Lial, courtesy of Kendall Reiss
Jewelry maker Kendall Reiss