Born in 1944 in Maxton, North Carolina, but raised in Iowa, Kiff Slemmons is a jewelry artist currently based in Chicago, Illinois. Slemmons typically works with non-precious and found materials to create her jewelry. She often values the metaphoric or poetic potential of her creations over their wearability. Slemmons studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and at Scripps College in Claremont, California, before completing a BA at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, in 1968. During her studies, Slemmons became interested in Dada, surrealism, and constructivism and continues to incorporate ideas from these movements into her artistic practice. Except for a summer intensive in metalsmithing (hosted in Japan through Parsons School of Design), Slemmons is a primarily self-taught artist. She considers the jewelry of non-industrial societies to be rich indicators of culture, and brings an anthropological perspective to her practice. She has traveled widely throughout her life and has enduring ties to Oaxaca, Mexico, where she completed an artist residency in 2000. Her work is represented within the collections of museums, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In 2007, she completed an oral history interview for the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art. Slemmons was elected a Fellow of the American Craft Council in 2006.