Sonya Clark

beads

With beads, it’s all about the hole. Without it beads cannot be strung or stitched together. The more beads, the less likely the beadwork will break apart. Just as with communities, there is safety in numbers. The holes in beads are like the orifices we use to communicate. One to the next, beads are strung in the same way that from mouth to ear, sound waves connect us. Beads have been with us for 75,000 years. As archaeological heirlooms, they remind us of our ancestors and genetic pool. Beads in abacuses and rosarues become mnemonics. I measure time, transfix gestures, celebrate cultural memory, and explore metaphor through the medium of beads.

“No matter her materials, Clark “braids” and “twists” associations, creating works with a distinctly emotional tensile strength.”

—Leah Ollman
Art Critic, L.A. Times