As a biracial artist, Tanya Crane’s work is deeply influenced by her experiences of duality: black and white, prejudice and privilege, suburbs and inner city. In Tributaries: Tanya Crane | Polarity, exposing the tensity, she includes new jewelry that utilizes a variety of techniques, including enameling. She received her MFA in Metalsmithing + Jewelry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her BFA in Metal from the State University of New York at New Paltz. Tanya Crane is currently a Professor of the Practice in Metals at the School Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Boston, MA.

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"New England, and my new home of Pawtucket, RI, in particular, has a significance to my work that was previously not a conscious consideration but has recently posited itself as a grand signifier in my existence as a jewelry artist. It is learning about New England’s seminal history as the seat of the American Industrial Revolution, the undeniable gravity to the founding of this nation, its growth and ultimate dissolution, and the remnants and detritus that are informing my current work. My formative years were spent in southern California where cultural imprints positioned me in a liminal existence between prejudice and privilege. I am half Black and half White. Living in a middle-class suburb of Los Angeles and visiting my father in socio-economically and racially divided South Central Los Angeles impacted my identity as a young person searching for which culture to occupy and how. Ultimately, I realized the choice itself provided me with a tool of social leverage."