ArtPrize: “Bead Embroidery Triptych”

By Justin Tiemeyer - Contributing Writer

9/22/2024

For ArtPrize 2024, Amy Johnson submitted a series of three beaded jewelry pieces called “Bead Embroidery Triptych.” Typically, a triptych is a series of three painted panels, folded at two joints. The triptych traces its origins to biblical altar paintings displayed in Byzantine churches during the Middle Ages. Peter Paul Reubens, an early champion of the triptych, painted his infamous “Descent from the Cross” depicting the visitation, descent, and presentation of Jesus in a triptych for Antwerp Cathedral. To present jewelry this way is a bold, challenging decision, but Johnson’s intention was not to rock the boat.

“I just have it in a shadow box because people will grab it otherwise,” Johnson said. “I thought three together works better to show the different applications of the bead embroidery.”

Johnson has nicknamed the first of her three bead necklaces “New Constellation” after the Toad and the Wet Sprockets song.

“Music inspires me a lot,” Johnson said. “You sit down and lose yourself in the music.”

Johnson’s work has also benefitted from what she describes as the “aethereal, haunting sound” of Radiohead. There is no one-to-one correlation, however; you will not find a section of a necklace that specifically says the line, “Don’t question my authority or put me in a box” from the 2003 song “2 + 2 = 5,” but you might catch a mood.

Johnson describes her second necklace as art nouveau, the “new art” of the European Belle Époque period from 1890 to 1910. Art nouveau was a reaction to the systematic approach taken during the 19th century, and it actively blurs the hard boundaries of classical methodology. Johnson herself, whose work casually breaks down the distinction between the fine arts (triptych paintings) and applied arts (jewelry), is at home in this space.

Johnson’s third necklace summons the decadent jewelry styles of Marrakesh, Morocco, heavy pieces with an intense commitment to detail and a clear tribute to the ancient Near East.  Johnson told a story of a woman who bought one of her necklaces with no intention of ever wearing it.

“She said, ‘I could buy that and put it in a frame. I put it in my bedroom. Every morning, I wake up, and it makes me happy.’”

Johnson started out with tapestry weaving at a loom, but this put a lot of strain on her back, so she shifted to jewelry in 2006. The progression was natural: tapestry weaving led to bead weaving, which in turn led to bead embroidery. However, Johnson was never limited to one form of art. While talking to her, she would sprinkle in some other skill, like fabric dying, lapidary work (cutting and polishing stones), or graphic design, that she had picked up over the years, but never in a boastful way. Her calm, casual tone says, “It’s just what you do.”

Johnson enjoys ArtPrize for the same reason she enjoys LowellArts, as a means of getting her jewelry out there into the world and on display.

“I want to do more shows,” Johnson said. “I did the big Ann Arbor show this year. It was three long days, but it was great.”

She has entered ArtPrize five or six times, having displayed at a coffee shop near the police station in downtown Grand Rapids and a gallery closer to Leonard Street in the past. This year, “Bead Embroidery Triptych” is on display at Park Church.

“They’re just so welcoming to artists,” Johnson said.

Johnson has some plans for future ArtPrizes, and the event pushes her to embrace unusual projects and employ new techniques. She is currently working on a how-to book based on the classes she has taught at LowellArts and other venues. Johnson also looks forward to expanding her gallery presence and selling her jewelry online.

Johnson sold her first big piece of jewelry at the Fallasburg Arts Festival.

“I wanted to show that beads can be art too,” she said. “That was kind of what got me going. And now, I sell the big pieces, so who knows? You gotta give it a try. You never know what will sell.”

You can vote for ArtPrize via the Flockx app until Thursday, September 26, two days before the end of ArtPrize 2024. If you are interested in voting for “Bead Embroidery Triptych,” its Voting ID number is 34542.