Vibrant beaded portraits by Felandus Thames commemorate memory and the black diaspora — Colossal
Felandus Thames uses thousands of colorful hair beads to create vibrant patterns and portraits. He uses historical photographs as a starting point, with a particular focus on Black and Indigenous figures, whose stories have been largely underrepresented in American historical narratives. Among them were dancers and choreographers Alvin Ailey and Amos Haskins. Amos Haskins was a 19th-century Wampanoag who became a master sailor, one of the few Native Americans to achieve this feat.
Headquartered in West Haven, Connecticut, Thames emphasizes a strong connection to materials. In these portraits he used beads often used to create braids. Recent projects also include a device containing multiple hairbrushes. “Lately, I’ve been thinking about the affordances of materials and their ability to make an idea necessary,” Thames told Colossal. “I’ve been digging into material from my childhood,” he adds, delving into the memories that connect him and other black diaspora people.
The materials reference historical and contemporary functions, from early societies’ use of beads and shells as currency, to the way beaded curtains separated different areas in Thames’ childhood home. “In these works, I use everyday life as cultural currency,” he said.
Thames describes the mass-produced plastic parts as “black pixels” similar to the scraps of fabric that are pieced together to form a quilt. Quilting, a creative practice his maternal ancestors also pursued, offers another “way to express how we carry memories,” he said. Neat beaded wires suspended from aluminum rods also become almost fabric-like.
In his more recent work, Thames has been interested in the black radical tradition, a philosophy that rejects colonial attitudes such as slavery, segregation, and other forms of oppression. The Black Panther Party and the civil rights movement developed around this idea, with recent examples including the Black Lives Matter movement.
For Thames, the black radical tradition is “a form of resistance and rebellion” among those who made giant leaps and made lasting change. “My focus goes beyond outliers or exceptional individuals and instead focuses on those who promote sustainable change in institutions,” he said.
Thames’ portraits embody changes or actions that create something like what he calls a “scaffolding of substantial change.” Surrounded by vibrant patterns, their likenesses, often taken from black and white archival photos, become timeless.
“The Whaler’s Wail (Portrait of Amos Haskin)” is currently Intertwined: freedom, sovereignty and the seawhich runs through January 19 at the Mystic Seaport Museum. Thames’ work is also currently on display in a group exhibition exodus Held at Hamilton College’s Waring Museum of Art, the exhibition runs until April 18, 2026. Please visit the artist’s website and Instagram for more information.
