Ali Vedad Yuner on Jewelry as Ecological Faith and Living Beings

Ali Vedad Yuner, a Brooklyn-based jeweler and metalsmith, discusses his practice in an interview with New York Art Life Magazine. Yuner grew up on the Turkish coast, where watching fish shimmer in sunlight sparked a lifelong fascination with metal and light. He studied industrial design at Pratt Institute (graduating with highest honors) and later earned an MFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing from Rhode Island School of Design. His thesis, titled 'Ecospiritual Entanglement,' argues that jewelry can reconnect people with the living world. Yuner treats each piece as a 'being' that comes alive when worn, blending digital tools like ZBrush and Rhino with hand carving in wood, bone, and metal. He recently launched his own label, Ali Vedad Yuner Jewelry, focusing on natural materials. He also models hardware for The Sample Room at Tory Burch. In 2026, he will exhibit at AUTOR in Bucharest and SNAG in Tucson, followed by a residency at Haystack Mountain School of Craft in Maine. His work has been featured by Klimt02, Munich Jewelry Week, and the Providence Journal. Yuner emphasizes themes of human smallness, ecological entanglement, and the talismanic power of adornment.