The process of making the portrait. Photo credit: Christina Lennox.
GRSJ grad student and artist, Christina Lennox was recently interviewed by the CBC about recreating a photograph of her maternal great grandmother into beautiful, intricate beadwork. The process involved weaving 87,074 beads over 10 months.
After many visits and stories with her grandfather (Stewart Tait), Lennox scanned a photo of her great grandmother, Annabella McKay, from the late 1930s and uploaded it into a software program that assigned each pixel a number. This guide determined what shade of bead Lennox would need to use. The beaded portrait is made up of many smaller pieces, like individual earrings, hung on a birch board.
“From the stories I've heard about her, she was a very persistent and stubborn lady and for me, when I look at that photo, I really see that. I feel like I've really gotten to know her through the process of making this art.”
The finished beadwork portrait. Photo: Cydney Lawrence
Lennox thanks and acknowledges the First Peoples Heritage, Language and Culture Council and their partners in the Arts Program, the BC Arts Council, and the Government of British Columbia Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation who supported this project.
You can read the interview in its entirety by following the link below.
