Private Commissions

Outdoor Beaded Panels

2006

Commissioned by Andrew Zuckerman and Nicole Bergen, Cold Spring, New York
Medium: Copper, glass beads
Dimensions: Vary
Photograph: Andrew Zuckerman
Artists’ Registration Number: 2006.042.001

Commission Overview
This work represents the second iteration of an installation of glass beaded panels created for Andrew Zuckerman and Nicole Bergen’s property in Cold Spring, New York. The original installation ran vertically up a single tree: five glass-beaded panels mounted one above the other, each with its own geometric motif. The later iteration dispersed the panels across multiple trees, transforming the wooded site into a constellation of shifting, reflective surfaces.

Artistic Approach
The panels were constructed on copper frames with inset interior frames that allowed each beaded panel to spin within its mount. This subtle movement caught the wind, shifting the viewing angle and creating a dialogue with natural light and weather. The beadwork featured bold concentric rectangles in black, white, yellow, and blue, executed not with seed beads but with larger beads nearly a quarter-inch wide.

William wove the panels on a wide Mirrix loom, one of the first times he scaled bead weaving to larger outdoor panels. This was also among our earliest attempts to bring beadwork—a medium often seen as delicate, precious, and interior—into the outdoors. Remarkably, nearly twenty years later, the panels remain intact, their durability testifying to both material resilience and craft.

Engagement and Impact
Our friendship with Andrew began on commercial photo shoots for MAK, where we became known as the “craft kids” at the table—always working on handbags, beadwork, and textiles while assisting on set. Andrew recognized something in that devotion and became one of the first photographers to seriously document our work, eventually producing thousands of images. This commission marked a deepening of that relationship, moving from documentation into a shared vision of placing our beadwork within a natural landscape.

Context and Legacy
Outdoor Beaded Panels marked a shift in our practice toward site-specific installations and experimentation with scale and environment. By situating beadwork in trees—framed by copper, moved by wind, lit by changing seasons—we expanded the vocabulary of our medium into an outdoor, environmental context. The commission also stands as an emblem of the early support we received from creative collaborators like Andrew and Nicole, whose belief in our work gave us the freedom to experiment and grow.