Erin Peña

About The Art

I create sculptures and jewelry from beads, thread, and creative geometry. My drive to explore is one of the biggest forces behind my work. I want to bend space in a way no one else has yet. I thrive on discovering new techniques, new applications for old techniques, and the satisfaction of seeing a complicated piece of art and engineering come together. I am happiest when I can apply math and intuition in equal measure to create shapes that have not yet been seen.

I am largely self-taught in beadwork. I primarily create free standing sculptures without armatures, entirely woven from beads and thread using a strong and versatile technique called peyote stitch. Beadwork as I practice it is an amalgamation of art and engineering. The artwork is in envisioning the sculpture I want to make; the engineering is in working out the geometry behind the sculpture. The more I learn about geometry, the more I expand my horizons. 

I still appreciate and rely on the meditative practice of beadweaving, but now the intellectual challenge of engineering new kinds of beadwork shapes is just as important to me. The balance between the creative work of drawing a sculpture and the meditative practice of beading is vital to my mental health and creative cycle. These days I’m mastering other beading stitches as well as peyote stitch, and I’m also experimenting with fabricating armatures for larger beaded sculptures that can’t support their own weight.

Although I have been beading for nearly two decades, in many ways I feel as though my journey is just beginning and I can’t wait to see where it takes me.

About The Artist

Erin Peña is a queer, Jewish beader based out of Minneapolis MN, primarily creating abstract geometric sculptures from beads and thread. At a young age, Erin learned fiber arts from their mother and grandmothers. From their father they learned how to use math in the real world as he rebuilt much of their childhood home. Erin grew up with craft, seeking out new forms and techniques until they found beadweaving in their early teens. Erin draws their inspiration both from mathematical forms and from the natural world, blending crystalline and organic structures in a way that is compelling and unique. Erin’s work is their way of expressing their curiosity towards the world, a hands-on means of getting to know the geometric structure of things and how the pieces of the Universe fit together. Erin’s work is an exercise in patience and thoughtfulness; a single sculpture may contain dozens of hours of stitching, bead by bead, and behind that work is the intense creative process of engineering the piece and mapping the blueprints. Erin enjoys the balance between the meditative work of beading and the energetic work of creation. Their sculptures have been shown in several galleries and have been recognized with multiple awards. Erin was recently awarded a prestigious grant and training opportunity through the American Craft Council’s 2023 Emerging Artist Cohort.