MJW Overview 2020: Beaded

The humble bead! We owe it all to them, those tiny little beings with holes through their hearts, those utterly simplistic carriers of meaning too often relegated to the realms of meaningless kitsch or outdated history. 

Beads are among the oldest objects known to have been made: as early as 70,000–90,000 years ago, shells were drilled and worn as beaded necklaces, to be traded and gifted. Whether linked to commercial transactions, used as currency in the afterlife, or utilised as part of religious rituals, beads are an undeniable part of the human story. 

Unfortunately, it is precisely their ubiquity that has made them seem banal and unimportant. When we see beads, we often think of children fusing Perler beads into the shape of a dinosaur or of cheesy giftshop keychains. Beaded breathes life back into this history-laden material by presenting nine international artists who, at some point in their career, explored beads as tiny tools for communication. 

CS I have been working with and about beads for quite some time now, and when studying and investigating this subject I came across and selected this group of artists (some I have known for quite a long time and others were true revelations) who share a similar passion through different interpretations.

Caroline Broadhead searches for balance between substance and image, presence and absence with a lyrical and intimate approach.

Daniel Kruger, inspired by the beading work of the Ndebele women from South Africa, brings up a series of elegant cylindrical pendants/necklaces that captivate us with their precious surfaces and sensual, flexible movements. 

Felieke van der Leest uses fairy-tale-like imagery that strives to strike the viewer with serious themes, ironising conventional jewellery.

Joyce J. Scott’s work prods the viewer to question social and political stereotypes.
 

Manon van Kouswijk shows some of her artist publications, which are a fundamental part of her conceptual thinking and of her approach, itself rooted in historical archetypes for contemporary making. 

Sari Liimatta works with people’s interactions with animals and other human beings, acting like a reporter, documenting stories that aim to produce a change in how we act on environmental issues.

Sébastien Carré mixes a wide range of materials to create colourful structures that look at once like cosmic landscapes and living organisms similar to bacteria.

WALKA Studio founders, Nano Pulgar and Claudia Betacourt, take a trip back in time to pre-Columbian civilisations to approach the tradition of bead necklaces passed down from mother to daughter, reminding us of how important cultural heritage is in the twenty-first century.

I (Catarina Silva) have been developing a series of votive pieces with ritualistic and contemplative characters – similar to reliquaries – as a way to archive memories that I have collected over time.