Murano Series

Spending a week in Venice at the start of a trip to Italy, I was caught up going in and out of all the necklace shops there, and began to rethink world history through beads at the Murano Glass Museum. Venice was one of the centers of world trade in the Renaissance and Murano beads were used as currency and for barter throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and the New World aka the Americas. The glass artisans worked on Murano Island to keep the knowhow from leaking out. The sheer beauty and varieties are tremendous from the simple clear glass balls to the intricate silver and gold-leaf beads.The artisans and their families were forced to live on the island to keep the knowhow from leaking out with the threat of death.My Murano Series features handblown glass beads in TOPPI combinations.

TOPPI (突飛) NYC - sumi nakazato -