Jewelry artist Karen Pontoppidan was born in 1968 and grew up on a farm in Denmark. She did her technical training at the Berufskolleg für Formgebung, Schmuck und Gerät in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany, followed by six years of study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich under Proffesor Otto Künzli. In addition to practicing jewelry-making, Pontoppidan teaches jewelry design in a program called Ädellab at Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Sweden. She lives and works in Germany and Sweden.
Though the styles throughout her body of work vary, her investigation of the phenomenon of jewelry is a running theme that ties the disparate aspects together. Pontoppidan finds the physical creation of the pieces to be the most rewarding aspect of being a jewelry artist. Her process includes engraving and sewing metals such as silver and tin. She sees the focus of jewelry-making shifting from personal expression to political and social expression.