How to make metal talk? Acclaimed Muscogee/Seminole jeweler Kenneth Johnson has been working on that for more than 30 years.
As a contemporary Native American designer and accomplished metalsmith, he has mastered working in copper, silver, gold, platinum and palladium, as well as gems and stones. His gleaming and intricate work has been seen on award-winning director Sterlin Harjo, actress and producer Jessica Matten, tribal chiefs, at the Grammys, Spirit Awards, American Film Institute and Critics Choice Awards.
Landers Turquoise Spider Pendant, Landers turquoise cabochon set in a custom-made bezel created from Austrian gold coins, custom gold-link chain
Johnson has been commissioned to create custom jewelry for distinguished figures, including U.S. Supreme Court justices Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonja Sotomayor, Canadian Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and British House of Lords Baroness Emma Nicholson.
Johnson and his work have also graced countless covers, including French Vogue.
It’s all heady stuff for a boarding school kid who studied mechanical engineering. Growing up in Oklahoma, Johnson received his education at Seneca Indian School, Sequoyah High School and the University of Oklahoma.
Kenneth Johnson with his award-winning oar.
“I liked making arts and crafts at our Indian boarding school,” Johnson says. “They weren’t good classes, they just said we need to keep kids occupied. After school, I moved to New Mexico, and I met some Oklahoma friends who were artists. I realized that it was a job that I could literally eat—I traded jewelry for food at restaurants…I started thinking, I’ll make jewelry for other people, and then also start selling to the stores and then doing art shows. Those connections enabled me to travel and get my travel paid for while making work.”
Now based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, his intricate stamp work and engraving often incorporates coins and bead-set gemstones. His signature techniques include original dates of coins visible in the designs, Seminole patchwork patterns, engravings and Southeast-style concentric line designs.
Hand-made gold earrings featuring repousse flower designs created from 1915 Austrian coins and bezel-set emeralds and Omega backs, 2¾ x 1½”
In 2023, Johnson earned significant recognition at the second annual Mvskoke Art Market. His standout talent earned him the top sculpture award for his lifesize bronze canoe paddle titled Genesis, as well as the esteemed Mvskoke Heritage Award for best Mvskoke artist for his extraordinary bronze sculpture Journey.
Ivory Billed Woodpecker, cuff stamped and overlaid with silver, copper and 18k gold. Photo: Justin Rogers.
There was a world premiere of Kenneth Johnson Speaking Through Metal at the Santa Fe International Film Festival in October. Three years in the making, the film follows the process of multiple metal creations by Johnson, the many forms of symbology he uses, and the Muscogee and Seminole histories from which he draws. The film is directed, produced, shot and edited by Kaela Waldstein.
It all comes back to his heritage.
Woodpecker Gorget, sterling silver with copper and bronze accents, 4 x 6”
“I’m actually a Muskogee. I’m a Muskogee and Seminole, but people only hear what they recognize, which is Seminole. But the Muskogee are the fourth-largest tribe in the United States. I’ve made gorgets for the Florida Seminole Nation chiefs,” he says. “My success came quickly as I was able to get into Indian Market on my first try. I was told it takes years to get in, but I got in right away. My experience isn’t everyone else’s experience. I learned in the Southwest, but I like to find the motifs from my own background from Oklahoma.”
That kind of success was extremely encouraging, as was winning awards and starting to get publicity. “Of course it was and I want to build on that. It’s one thing with the judges’ response, and it’s another one with the public response,” he says. “I put heart and soul into my work, and it was appreciated.” Johnson learned the traditional ways but is open to more modern techniques.
Songs of the Fourth World – Woodpecker Mokume Star Necklace, stamped and overlaid with silver, copper and 18k gold. Photo: Justin Rogers.
“I like using 3D CAD computer design. I like using exotic metals and processes. Like working with a Japanese metal technique called Mokume Gane, translated to mean wood eye or wood grain, where layers of contrasting-colored metals are fused together with heat and pressure and worked to produce a patterned mixed-metal laminate,” Johnson says. “I like exotic metals—platinum and palladium. Then there are layered metals, layered steel. Metals all have different properties. You have to learn to work with all of them differently. I think that’s where my mechanical engineering background helped. Because you get to apply that each metal has its own property, and you have to adjust your technique. Yeah, it’s a continual learning process.”
Mvskoke Knot Necklace, hand-made silver links. Photo: Justin Rogers.
Johnson continues, “I’m making a platinum and diamond piece right now, and it’s combined with gold. So, it’s a mix of a lot of materials. As for platinum, it’s just different, it’s a very dense metal. And it’s great for holding diamonds. I love using it, it used to be more expensive than gold. One ounce of gold is physically bigger than one ounce of platinum so, you might need twice as much platinum to equal that same amount of gold.”
Various twisted silver bracelets.
Over the years Johnson has created a network of dealers and connections to source his stones. Some are at shows in Tucson, Arizona, and in Santa Fe “there are stone dealers right down the street, right down the hallway from my studio,” he says. “And, of course, the supply stores, you can get raw stones and cut your own.”
He has a loose way of starting a piece.
“A lot of times I get to just freestyle, and I have so many designs on hand that I can just apply more design. Let’s say a bracelet that has an outside and an inside, I can choose a design that I think will fit. There are little holes on the outside and it will have some meaning to the wearer on the inside,” he says. “So I didn’t have to draw any of that out, I get to choose what’s on my mind. I do need to draw and resolve my design. If something needs to have a certain look, I’ll draw it out. Many times, I’ll design something in silver and then finish it off in gold or platinum.”
The Miss Muscogee Princess crown, designed and created by Kenneth Johnson.
Sterling Silver Eagle Gorget Necklace, hand-stamped with eagle created from 1921 silver dollar
As for working in series, he says it “goes in themes. Sometimes I’ll do a lot of bracelets. Other times it could be like this year I did a lot of turtles and that extended the turtles I do into bronze. I did a large 29-foot turtle made out of marble and flagstone and it was really exciting to make one of that scale.
“When I see the reaction to the pieces and see people wearing it, it does complete the circle. You get some validation but many times you have to ‘run without the ball,’ meaning if you have inspiration you run with it. Then once the quarterback throws the ball and you catch that, there’s a completion there. That can be when someone is wearing a piece, and you get to see it. It’s exciting.”
As much as Johnson loves selling direct, at his level he sells through various museums across the country.
Aside from all the acclaim, awards and film, at the heart of it, Johnson says his work is really about “telling stories in metal. People are so amazed with jewelry. For decades, centuries, it has always told stories about the people who wear it and the places they lived because they have to source from what’s around them. It’s a lot of levels of stories. People see jewelry as a form of armor—it makes them feel more powerful and protected.”
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