EXPERIMENT & EXPLORATION

Even in the exacting medium of loom beading, Tonepahhote demonstrates how improvisation and a sense of play can produce works of remarkable originality and formal rigor. This long, beaded band is not a commissioned work or one that Tonepahhote made with a recipient in mind. Tonepahhote states that she made it simply to see the effects of different combinations of colored beads

Thirty-one panels repeat the same zig-zag pattern, composed of alternating solid and checkerboard planes, but the diagonal composition and tension between figure and ground create a dynamic impression of spiraling movement. The combinations of colors, some starkly contrasting (like the sky blue and candy-apple red) and others more subtly paired (like the gold and canary yellow), as well as the mixing of iridescent and matte beads, attest to Tonepahhote’s expert understanding of color theory and design principles as applied to her chosen medium.