Cathryn Jasterzbski

Cathryn Jasterzbski is a goldsmith and metalsmith from the Mid-Hudson Valley region of New York. She completed a BFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing and a BS in Art Education from the State University of New York at New Paltz and her MFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing from Rhode Island School of Design. Through jewelry, she explores her working-class upbringing as it relates to her contemporary jewelry practice. Her research is built upon theory relating to class construction, working-class identity, and repair. Cathryn’s attention to ethical metalsmithing drives her artistic practice — through her use of reclaimed metal, she welds steel in the format of jewelry and reflects on the collision of class structures present in her life. Cathryn has taught at Rhode Island School of Design, Snow Farm New England Craft Program, and the 92nd Street Y. She was an artist in residence at the Baltimore Jewelry Center in 2019 and is the recipient of the Marzee Graduate Prize, Galerie Marzee – Nijmegen, Netherlands 2019 as well as the Ethical Metalsmiths Emerging Artist Award 2019. In 2020, her work was featured in Munich Jewelry Week’s exhibition, Schmuck 2020. Presently, Cathryn is instructing a jewelry and textile program in the Hudson Valley, NY while continuing to make her work in her personal studio.