From Growth Triptych, Pakpvketv (in progress)
Developed by Mvskoke artist, Andrea Day, Acrybead™ is a mixed-media technique that combines painting with individually placed beads and small clusters of three to six. The result is a layered, tactile surface that honors traditional Mvskoke forms while embracing an improvisational, contemporary aesthetic.
The process is slow and intentional, building depth and presence that draws viewers in for closer observation. Acrybead™ is not about exact replication — there is no formula or fixed pattern to follow. Instead, it is about connecting with history, memory, and cultural motifs in ways that feel alive, intuitive, and deeply personal.
The Story of Acrybead™
What emerged as a vision for innovation, started first as an act of healing. After a career as a performing artist in New York City, a crippling hip injury during the birth of my daughter shifted my path. With mobility stripped away and driven by instinct and the compulsion to create, I gathered materials that had been sitting in a bin for years — a blank canvas, paintbrush, paints, seed beads, needle, and thread.
In 2018, I stitched my first beads into a painted surface. Circles, hearts, and stars — my daughter’s favorite shapes — took form on the breast of a fuswv, or bird, for our clan. She was the inspiration behind the work, and through it, I wanted to teach her our language in a way that was playful, tactile, and visual. Together, we gathered fallen leaves in our Sunnyside, Queens, neighborhood and used them for nature printing in gold acrylic across the background. When finished, it felt as though the work carried the magic of our bond as well as our connection to the natural world. That improvisation, created from love and necessity, became the first Acrybead™ work.
At the time, I was also grappling inwardly with the pressures I had long placed on myself as a perfectionist. With my new daughter, I reflected on what perfection truly means and the standards I wanted to model. I became determined to redefine perfection, not as flawless replication, but as an embrace of instinct, intuition, and the beauty of imperfection. This philosophy became central to Acrybead™: each piece is an act of presence, intention, and the evolving understanding of what it means to create something completely and “perfectly.”
From there, the medium evolved: layers of acrylic paint interwoven with hand-sewn seed beads, a process I honed over the years into a distinctive, dimensional language that honors Mvskoke culture while celebrating an instinctual, contemporary aesthetic. My philosophy — that we evolve or perish — guides every decision, from the improvisational placement of beads to the interplay of paint, symbols, and hidden messages. These messages can appear as binary code or invisible elements that invite viewers to look closer and engage more deeply.
During research at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, I encountered pre-Removal Mvskoke beadwork, where improvisation and unscripted patterns revealed a resilience and creativity that resonated deeply with my own approach. This dialogue between ancestral practice and contemporary expression forms the foundation of Acrybead™, a medium in which three-dimensional work, coded messages, and latent design invite viewers to explore meaning and allegory in their own personal way.
“I became determined to redefine perfection, not as flawless replication, but as an embrace of instinct, intuition, and the beauty of imperfection.”
Mirielle’s Fuswv (2018)