Noah Kiehne, born Feb 2003, grew up in Windsor Connecticut.
Noah always had a small rock collection from various museums and gift shops, but in 2020, he discovered the attainable mineral diversity of his home state. This began a collection of self-mined mineral specimens that grew in quantity and quality, becoming a focal point of his metalwork and jewelry.
Noah has a bachelors degree in Computer Aided Jewelry Design and Lapidary Craft from the School of Individualized Study at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Statement
As a jeweler and artisanal miner, my work has a strong focus of including gemstones and mineral specimens that I've spent hours searching for, safely extracting, gently cleaning, carefully cutting, and patiently polishing. Gemstones can represent all manner of things, but to me they represent the journey it takes to find them. I am constantly fascinated with their sheer beauty on all scales.
In terms of conceptual content, my work is a marriage of mechanical and natural sensibilities. I am guided by mechanism, fantasy/superstition, and natural form. I explore ideas and aesthetics of religion and industry through hallmark forms and styles unique to those environments.