Tiny Hands, silver

silver plated Miyiuki seed beads, metallic duracoat Toho seed beads, silver plated vintage acrylic beads, silver plated wires, nylon thread

1.3x2x0.7 inches

I create dazzling jewelry with a sturdy hand-woven mesh of precious seed and marbled lucite beads. I am able to turn seed beads into something luxurious, by exiting the traditional path of folk art and tuning into a contemporary language. My challenge is to play with forms and colors to convey an emotion, and to create wearables that come into life.
I envision a sturdy bead mesh as if it was a medium on its own, therefore I can focus on the shape of my creation, rather that the transition between one stitch to another. I work with my bead mesh like a paper cut out, and in fact I get often asked “what is this made of”, as for people cannot immediately identify my jewelry as beadwork.

Working with minuscule seed beads is extremely time consuming, and necessitates the creation of a meditative state of mind. When I deal with this peculiar quality of bead-weaving, I find that the practice is also the message: the quality of the work and the enduring nature of a piece of jewelry.