The Artist’s profile
Katja Prins is a Dutch jewellery artist whose work merges traditional craftsmanship with conceptual exploration. Trained as a goldsmith before studying at the art academy in Amsterdam, she has developed a practice that challenges conventional jewellery design. Her pieces often incorporate unexpected materials and bold structural elements, reflecting a fascination with transformation and form.
Prins’s approach is deeply intuitive, guided by a lifelong engagement with materials and an experimental mindset. By blending technical precision with artistic expression, she creates jewellery that goes beyond adornment, inviting deeper contemplation on the relationship between objects, wearers, and the world around them.
The triggers to become an artist
I’m a typical “maker,” a craftsperson who loves to think and dream through my hands. From a young age, I was drawn to creating and visualizing the worlds inside my mind. I started making jewellery and objects, using materials like beads, plaster, and silver wire. This passion naturally led me to study goldsmithing and later attend the art academy in Amsterdam, where I sought to combine my technical skills with broader artistic expressions. My journey has always been driven by a love for making and a curiosity to explore new creative possibilities.
My journey has always been driven by a love for making and a curiosity to explore new creative possibilities.
Katja Prins
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Katja Prins from Haarlem, Netherlands.
Education & Activities
2017 – 2019 Master Fine Arts, HKU, Utrecht, NL
1993 – 1997 Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, NL
1989 – 1993 M.T.S Vakschool, Schoonhoven, NL (vocational school goldsmithing)
1982 – 1988 Atheneum Hageveld (A-level), Heemstede, NL
A selection of exhibitions and group exhibitions are; Galerie Rob Koudijs, Amsterdam, NL / Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h, Montréal, CA / ATTA Gallery, Bangkok, TH / O-Jewel, Tokyo, JP / Ornamentum Gallery, Hudson NY,USA / Museum Boerhaave, Leiden, NL / Galerie Metal, Copenhagen, DM / HNOSS, Götenborg, SE / Galerie Louise Smit, Amsterdam, NL / Galerie Pont&Plas, BE, / Amaranto Joies, Barcelona, ES / Museum Arnhem, NL / SOFA Chicago + NY,USA / Tokyo Art Faiir, JP / Design Miami USA / Gardiner Museum USA / Musée des Arts Décoratifs, F / National Gallery of Victoria, AU / Design Museum London, GB / Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK, / Schmuck, DE / Yingge Musée de la Céramique, Taipei, TW, / The Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul, KP / Pforzheim Jewellery Museum, DE / Museo Del Gioiello-Basilica Palladiana, IT, CODA Museum, NL / Pinnacle Gallery, USA / DutchDesignWeek, NL
A selection of lectures and guest teaching from last few years are; Guestteacher/lecturer: Tainan University of the Arts, TW / Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam, NL / Wintersession RISD, Providence, US / Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, US / Cranbrook, Detroit, US. / Master Fine Arts, HKU, NL. / KHiO (National Academy of the Arts), Oslo, NO / Escola Massana Masters, Barcelona, ES / Taller Perill, Barcelona, ES. / Anamma Studio, Athens, GR / Fabrika 12, Valencia, ES. / Hard to Find, Guadalajara, MX / Hiko Minzuno College, Tokyo, JP., Lectures: Conference Šperk Stret 2020, Bratislava, SK / Art Wear, De Vishal Haarlem, NL / Brooklyn Metal Works, New York, US / National Museum of Ceramics and Decorative Arts, Valencia, ES / Zimmerhof Symposium 2017, DE / Alchimia, Florence, IT / ENSA, école nationale superieure d’art, Limoges, F.
Awards
A selection of awards and grants from last few years are; AIR ZomerGlasStudio GlassCentre Leerdam, NL / AIR European Ceramic Work Centre ‘sHertogenbosch, NL / several working and travelgrants Mondriaan Foundation / Fonds BKVB / Nomination Mari Funaki Award for Contemporary Jewellery 2016 – Bronze Prize, Pushing boundaries ~ chasing challenges, Beijing World Art Museum and Ac. of Art & Design, Beijng, CH / Darling Publications Jeweller of the Year Award 2009 / Nomination Designprijs 1999 Museum Boymans v Beuningen – Nomination Bernardine de Neeveprijs
Publications
2009 publication of monograph “The Uncanny Valley”, Darling Publications, Cologne / New York, DE
Public Collections
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, US
Museum of Arts and Design New York, US
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, NL
SM’s Stedelijk Museum ‘sHertogenbosch, NL
Mint Museum Arts & Design, Charlotte, US
Schmuck Museum, Pforzheim, DE
The International Design Museum Munich, Germany
Museum of Modern Art, Arnhem, NL
Ceramic Museum Princessehof, Leeuwarden, NL
Musée des Beaux Arts, Marseille, F – Glasmuseum Alter Hof Herding, Coesfeld-Lette, DE
Dutch Textile Museum, Tilburg, NL
CODA Museum, Apeldoorn, NL
National Glassmuseum, Leerdam, NL
European Ceramic Work Centre, Den Bosch, NL
Private collections US, NL, DE, IT, BE, JP, UK, TH, BR, SE, DM, ES, AU, GB, TH
