Private Commissions

Silver Camouflage Grenade

2007

Commissioned by Beth Rudin DeWoody, New York, New York
Medium: Core of packed threads and trimmings, glass Delica beads, archival board, Ultra Suede, nickel loop; Box: archival board, ultrasuede, silk charmeuse, thread, scrolls
Dimensions: Box: 6 × 6 × 3 1/2 in.; Grenade: Coming Soon :)
Photograph: Andrew Zuckerman
Artists’ Registration Number: 2007.003.001

Commission Overview
Beth Rudin DeWoody has always been a friend who loves talking about art and the larger world it lives in. When we met her, we were still making intricately designed accessories housed in hand-sewn boxes. During one visit to her Upper East Side apartment, surrounded by art from floor to ceiling, she looked at us and said, “You don’t have to make design objects if you don’t want to—you can do whatever you want to do.”

That sentence stayed with us. Then she glanced over at her table, where a group of grenades were displayed as art, and said, “How about making me a beaded grenade?” It was one of our first commissions from her—and the first that didn’t involve a functional object.

Artistic Approach
To make a grenade, we started from the inside out. Our grandmother had given us all of her old threads, so we began by pulling them from their spools and wrapping them tightly together to form a dense, thread-packed core. We loved the idea of family materials sitting at the heart of this new direction.

William mapped out a camouflage pattern in silver, grey, and metallic tones, then meticulously appliqued the entire surface with hand-sewn glass Delica beads. The pull was made from folded archival board covered in grey Ultra Suede with a nickel key-ring loop—a quiet nod to the keychain collections we amassed as kids.

The grenade rests in a medium-grey Ultra Suede box lined with black silk charmeuse. Two notches cut into the lid are bound with white linen thread dashes, and inside, layers of fabric scrolls create a textured landscape surrounding the object.

Engagement and Impact
For Beth, the commission was a playful idea realized with unexpected intimacy and craftsmanship. For us, it was a turning point—an opportunity to merge memory, material inheritance, and sculptural experimentation. The grenade embodied both beauty and tension, and it introduced a new language for what our work could hold.

Context and Legacy
Silver Camouflage Grenade became a bridge between our early accessory work and the sculptural objects that followed. Its core of family thread, its meticulous beadwork, and its presentation within a hand-sewn box set the tone for a decade of exploration. It also deepened our relationship with Beth, whose friendship and belief in our vision have continued to shape our journey as artists.