Martina Nagele

Beadweaving Artist
Bornheim, Germany

Some years ago, I found that I could weave beads to express my creative ideas. I have always been drawn to symmetric and geometric structures, and bead weaving is a particularly good way to build such structures. Over time, I made several different geometric objects using glass beads in various shapes and sizes, ranging from 1.2 mm to 6 mm.

Encrusted Kepler Star
Encrusted Kepler Star
7 x 7 x 7 cm
glass beads, facetted crystal beads, fishing line
2012

The shape of a Kepler star (i.e., stella octangula) has fascinated me for many years. Over time, I have beaded several of them in different colors and using different shapes of beads. This one is formed by two intersecting second generation Sierpinksi tetrahedrons. The planes of the little tetrahedrons are embellished with hundreds of seed beads and sparking crystals. I initially got the idea for an unembellished beaded Sierpinski tetrahedron from Gwen Fisher (California, USA). She also was so nice to help me with the text.

(photo by Christian Daitche/ PHOTOBONN)

Hilbert in Pink
Hilbert in Pink
0.5 x 10 x 10 cm
glass beads, facetted crystal beads, fishing line
2013

This piece is a beaded representation of a fourth generation Hilbert curve approximation. I used a needle and very fine fishing line to weave together thousands of tiny 2 mm glass beads to form a single continuous, closed curve. To accentuate the edges, I embellished the curve with over 800 facetted 2 mm crystals in pink and crystal clear.

(photo by Christian Daitche/ PHOTOBONN)