Beadwork

Liza Lou, Color Field, 2013, glass beads, stainless steel, Perspex, , 20 x 26 feet (dimensions variable). , Courtesy the artist. © Liza Lou 2010-2013. Photo credit: Dean Eliot. 

Artist Liza Lou’s works with beads which appeals to me because I make jewelry using beads. This piece is from an exhibition last year where she used thin pieces of wire each with a single color of beads that were then put together in patterns.

Liza Lou, Kitchen, 1990–95. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

I first saw her Kitchen at the Akron Art Museum and was blown away by the amount of beads and time it must of took to complete at life-size room. She had people helping her with the beading or she would probably still be working on it.

Detail of the sink from Kitchen.

Small Work on a Large Scale

Continuous Mile (Black) by Liza Lou, 2006-08, The Cleveland Museum of Art

Liza Lou is known for creating artwork out of beads and also for creating ambitious pieces. This work is a mile long length of beaded cotton rope that is then coiled around itself so that it forms a circle. It is created in a South African beading technique used by the Zulu peoples. Lou lives and works in both South Africa and Los Angeles.