Edison cummings, (navajo/dine, b. 1962)
Edison Cummings (Navajo/ dine) is an award-winning contemporary jeweler and silversmith. Born in Arizona in 1962, he moved to Santa Fe to study at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). Although his early interest was in painting—and he knew from a young age that he would become an artist—it was at IAIA that he discovered sculpture and jewelry. He earned a degree in three-dimensional art before continuing his studies at Arizona State University in Tempe, where he pursued a degree in art education.
In the summer of 1990, Cummings began working at White Hogan, a respected Scottsdale, Arizona gallery specializing in mid-century modern and contemporary Native jewelry and craft. Over the next five years, he gained hands-on experience fabricating jewelry, objects, and flatware. During this time, he developed and refined a technique he calls “stretching the metal,” which allows him to manipulate silver into raised and intricately formed shapes.
A highly skilled silversmith, Cummings often incorporates ironwood and hardstones into his jewelry and decorative objects. He is especially recognized for his raised metal forms. While his raised bracelets are sometimes compared to Charles Loloma’s height-inlay style, Cummings’ training as a jeweler is evident in his precise bezel-set stones, repoussé, and stamp work.
The first art competition Cummings entered earned him a gold award, setting the tone for a career marked by consistent acclaim. He has received honors at every major Indian art competition, including First Place in Jewelry at the prestigious 2014 Santa Fe Indian Market and recognition at the 2015 Heard Museum Market.
Now based in Arizona, Edison Cummings continues to push the boundaries of Native American jewelry and metalwork, combining a sculptor’s vision with a jeweler’s technical precision.
To learn more about edison cummings, visit our Native American Collection page to see jewelry from our inventory of exquisite Native American jewelry and purchase the catalog Material Beauty: Modern Hopi, Navajo, and Pueblo Artist Jewelers, which accompanied our 2018 exhibition here.
