About

Kari Breitigam (pronounced brat-i-gum) is a visual artist and jewelry designer based in Houston, Texas. She has experience in a range of media including embroidery, weaving, painting, textile dyeing, and soft sculpture.  Kari studied both painting and drawing and is a self-taught jewelry designer.  She possesses a BFA from The Ohio State University and an MFA from Indiana State University.  She currently teaches in the art department at Lone Star College.

Kari Breitigam’s designs are born from a commitment to bring warmth to a minimalist aesthetic. Heavily inspired by the subtle irregularities of ancient jewelry metalwork and by modernist biomorphic sculpture, her works strike a balance between classic and contemporary. Textures and organic shapes play integral roles in each design. These attributes join with hand construction techniques to highlight the unique nature of handmade work. The result is simplistic forms that maintain a sense of individuality. Each piece is endearingly imperfect, just like us.

Kari’s jewelry designs stem from her studio art practice. The materials used in her fiber artwork served as the initial inspiration for the jewelry collection, as the first necklaces were made from leftover yarn and hand-dyed textiles. The pieces have since evolved, but the studio art and jewelry design practices continue to inform one another.

Like her jewelry designs, Kari's current studio work embraces simple statements. The paintings and fiber pieces convey a sense of order and calm by employing familiar subject matter – mostly landscape and still life – and using abstracted forms, limited palettes, and a variety of textures.

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