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Contemporary Geometric Beadwork

A community project started in 2011 by Kate McKinnon at a Seed Bead Summit, to explore and develop new forms of architectural beadwork in an open source format. By 2015 the CGB project was presenting their ideas at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and inspiring bead weavers all over the world to develop and contribute to the growing body of work.

Basic instructions and inspiration was published as the work progressed in order to engage community participation. Two volumes of work have been published as of 2018: Vol I 2011-2012 and Vol II 2013-2014. Vol III is due to be published in 2019 along with a pattern book.

Numerous bead weaving explorers - professionals and amateurs - have contributed to the ideas brought to fruition and presented to the beading public in a "toolbox-based approach." Starting as an exploration of jewelry forms the work progressed to movable pieces of art beadwork expressing hyperbolic energy. The work is accessible as simple bead weaving projects or mathematical concepts and engineering linkages.

Basic Forms

A modular concept to creating with seed beads, the forms created by weaving seed beads together start with triangle, square and line. Growing these forms by adding more (or less) units (beads) enable unlimited creativity even before color and light are considered. Contemporary Geometric Beadwork Vol I was published in 2012 documenting the discoveries created all over the world and showcased by the CGB team. Basic shapes and techniques include: square, triangle, bellyband, growing (increasing and decreasing), shaping and tailoring bead fabric.

Creating Structures

Increasing and Decreasing to create movement

Warping squares