Joyce J. Scott: Spotlight Exhibition
October 4, 2016 – January 31, 2017

Joyce J Scott
War, What is it Good For, Absolutely Nothing, Say it Again
2022
Neckpiece.
Peyote stitch, glass beads, Thread.
Photo: Jeff Butler
17” l x 15” w x 1/2” d

Joyce J Scott
War, What is it Good For, Absolutely Nothing, Say it Again
2022
Neckpiece.
Peyote stitch, glass beads, Thread.
Photo: Michael Koryta
17” l x 15” w x 1/2” d

Joyce J Scott
War, What is it Good For, Absolutely Nothin, Say it Again (back)
2022
Neckpiece.
Peyote stitch, glass beads, Thread.
Photo: Michael Koryta
17” l x 15” w x 1/2” d

Joyce J Scott
He Said What?
2022
Neckpiece
Glass beads, thread, velcro, leather, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
24” x 15” x 1/8”

Joyce J. Scott
Rechristening
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
37 3/4” x 20” x 14.5”

Joyce J Scott
Rechristening (Side View)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
37 3/4” x 20” x 14.5”

Joyce J. Scott
Rechristening (close up)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
37 3/4” x 20” x 14.5”

Joyce J Scott
Rechristening (Back Detail)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
37 3/4” x 20” x 14.5”

Joyce J. Scott
Rechristening (Detail)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
37 3/4” x 20” x 14.5”

Joyce J Scott
Rechristening (Pedestal Detail)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
37 3/4” x 20” x 14.5”

Joyce J Scott
Mz. Teapot
2022
Teapot
Glass beads, plastic beads, thread, wire, armature, woven and peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta
31” x 20” x 13”

Joyce J Scott
Mz. Teapot (Back)
2022
Teapot
Glass beads, plastic beads, thread, wire, armature, woven and peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta
31” x 20” x 13”

Joyce J. Scott
Mz. Teapot (Side)
2022
Teapot
Glass beads, plastic beads, thread, wire, armature, woven and peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta
31” x 20” x 13”

Joyce J Scott
Mz. Teapot (detail)
2022
Teapot
Glass beads, plastic beads, thread, wire, armature, woven and peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta
31” x 20” x 13”

Joyce J Scott
Waterways
2021
Beaded Tapestry
Peyote Stitch, glass beads,
Thread.
29.5” w x 25.5” hx 1/8” d

Joyce J Scott
Blutz
2021
Beaded Tapestry
Glass beads, thread, armature, peyote stitch
32” x 20” x 1/8”

Joyce J Scott
Smokey Clouds
2021
Neckpiece
Glass beads, beaded beads, silver beads, malachite beads, turquoise beads, onyx beads, pearls, mixed natural stones, thread, wire, peyote stitch
12.5” x 10” x 2.5”

Joyce J Scott
Liturgical
2022
Neckpiece
Glass beads, wooden beads, plastic beads, plastic ink pens, wire, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
Total length: 16 3/4”
Pendant: 11 1/2” x 3/4” x 3/4”
Neck ring: 5 1/2” dia

Joyce J Scott
Fertility
2022
Neckpiece
Glass beads, wooden beads, plastic beads, plastic ink pens, thread, wire, peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta
Total length: 15 1/4”
Pendant: 8.5” 1” x 3/4”

Joyce J Scott
Bronze People with Loud Girl
2020
Neckpiece
Glass beads, thread, peyote stitch
24" x 14” x 1/8”

Joyce J Scott
Le Monde, Tarot Card
2020
Neckpiece
Glass beads, thread, peyote stitch
22” x 10” x 1/8”

Joyce J Scott
Red Intersections
2021
Neckpiece
Glass beads, beaded beads, hand blown glass rods, thread, wire, peyote stitch
14” x 9” x 2”

Joyce J Scott
Raspberry Patch
2019
Neckpiece.
Peyote stitch, glass beads, thread.
14” x 13” x 1/8”

Joyce J Scott
War, What is it Good For, Absolutely Nothing, Say it Again
2022
Neckpiece.
Peyote stitch, glass beads, Thread.
Photo: Jeff Butler

Joyce J Scott
War, What is it Good For, Absolutely Nothing, Say it Again
2022
Neckpiece.
Peyote stitch, glass beads, Thread.
Photo: Michael Koryta

Joyce J Scott
War, What is it Good For, Absolutely Nothin, Say it Again (back)
2022
Neckpiece.
Peyote stitch, glass beads, Thread.
Photo: Michael Koryta

Joyce J Scott
He Said What?
2022
Neckpiece
Glass beads, thread, velcro, leather, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta

Joyce J. Scott
Rechristening
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta

Joyce J Scott
Rechristening (Side View)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta

Joyce J. Scott
Rechristening (close up)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta

Joyce J Scott
Rechristening (Back Detail)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta

Joyce J. Scott
Rechristening (Detail)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta

Joyce J Scott
Rechristening (Pedestal Detail)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta

Joyce J Scott
Mz. Teapot
2022
Teapot
Glass beads, plastic beads, thread, wire, armature, woven and peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta

Joyce J Scott
Mz. Teapot (Back)
2022
Teapot
Glass beads, plastic beads, thread, wire, armature, woven and peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta

Joyce J. Scott
Mz. Teapot (Side)
2022
Teapot
Glass beads, plastic beads, thread, wire, armature, woven and peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta

Joyce J Scott
Mz. Teapot (detail)
2022
Teapot
Glass beads, plastic beads, thread, wire, armature, woven and peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta

Joyce J Scott
Smokey Clouds
2021
Neckpiece
Glass beads, beaded beads, silver beads, malachite beads, turquoise beads, onyx beads, pearls, mixed natural stones, thread, wire, peyote stitch

Joyce J Scott
Liturgical
2022
Neckpiece
Glass beads, wooden beads, plastic beads, plastic ink pens, wire, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta

Joyce J Scott
Fertility
2022
Neckpiece
Glass beads, wooden beads, plastic beads, plastic ink pens, thread, wire, peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta

Joyce J Scott
Red Intersections
2021
Neckpiece
Glass beads, beaded beads, hand blown glass rods, thread, wire, peyote stitch
- IMAGES:
- /

Joyce J Scott
War, What is it Good For, Absolutely Nothing, Say it Again
2022
Neckpiece.
Peyote stitch, glass beads, Thread.
Photo: Jeff Butler
17” l x 15” w x 1/2” d

Joyce J Scott
War, What is it Good For, Absolutely Nothing, Say it Again
2022
Neckpiece.
Peyote stitch, glass beads, Thread.
Photo: Michael Koryta
17” l x 15” w x 1/2” d

Joyce J Scott
War, What is it Good For, Absolutely Nothin, Say it Again (back)
2022
Neckpiece.
Peyote stitch, glass beads, Thread.
Photo: Michael Koryta
17” l x 15” w x 1/2” d
Joyce J Scott
He Said What?
2022
Neckpiece
Glass beads, thread, velcro, leather, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
24” x 15” x 1/8”
Joyce J. Scott
Rechristening
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
37 3/4” x 20” x 14.5”
Joyce J Scott
Rechristening (Side View)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
37 3/4” x 20” x 14.5”
Joyce J. Scott
Rechristening (close up)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
37 3/4” x 20” x 14.5”
Joyce J Scott
Rechristening (Back Detail)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
37 3/4” x 20” x 14.5”
Joyce J. Scott
Rechristening (Detail)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
37 3/4” x 20” x 14.5”
Joyce J Scott
Rechristening (Pedestal Detail)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
37 3/4” x 20” x 14.5”
Joyce J Scott
Mz. Teapot
2022
Teapot
Glass beads, plastic beads, thread, wire, armature, woven and peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta
31” x 20” x 13”
Joyce J Scott
Mz. Teapot (Back)
2022
Teapot
Glass beads, plastic beads, thread, wire, armature, woven and peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta
31” x 20” x 13”
Joyce J. Scott
Mz. Teapot (Side)
2022
Teapot
Glass beads, plastic beads, thread, wire, armature, woven and peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta
31” x 20” x 13”
Joyce J Scott
Mz. Teapot (detail)
2022
Teapot
Glass beads, plastic beads, thread, wire, armature, woven and peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta
31” x 20” x 13”
Joyce J Scott
Waterways
2021
Beaded Tapestry
Peyote Stitch, glass beads,
Thread.
29.5” w x 25.5” hx 1/8” d
Joyce J Scott
Blutz
2021
Beaded Tapestry
Glass beads, thread, armature, peyote stitch
32” x 20” x 1/8”
Joyce J Scott
Smokey Clouds
2021
Neckpiece
Glass beads, beaded beads, silver beads, malachite beads, turquoise beads, onyx beads, pearls, mixed natural stones, thread, wire, peyote stitch
12.5” x 10” x 2.5”
Joyce J Scott
Liturgical
2022
Neckpiece
Glass beads, wooden beads, plastic beads, plastic ink pens, wire, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
Total length: 16 3/4”
Pendant: 11 1/2” x 3/4” x 3/4”
Neck ring: 5 1/2” dia
Joyce J Scott
Fertility
2022
Neckpiece
Glass beads, wooden beads, plastic beads, plastic ink pens, thread, wire, peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta
Total length: 15 1/4”
Pendant: 8.5” 1” x 3/4”
Joyce J Scott
Bronze People with Loud Girl
2020
Neckpiece
Glass beads, thread, peyote stitch
24" x 14” x 1/8”
Joyce J Scott
Le Monde, Tarot Card
2020
Neckpiece
Glass beads, thread, peyote stitch
22” x 10” x 1/8”
Joyce J Scott
Red Intersections
2021
Neckpiece
Glass beads, beaded beads, hand blown glass rods, thread, wire, peyote stitch
14” x 9” x 2”
Joyce J Scott
Raspberry Patch
2019
Neckpiece.
Peyote stitch, glass beads, thread.
14” x 13” x 1/8”

Joyce J Scott
War, What is it Good For, Absolutely Nothing, Say it Again
2022
Neckpiece.
Peyote stitch, glass beads, Thread.
Photo: Jeff Butler

Joyce J Scott
War, What is it Good For, Absolutely Nothing, Say it Again
2022
Neckpiece.
Peyote stitch, glass beads, Thread.
Photo: Michael Koryta

Joyce J Scott
War, What is it Good For, Absolutely Nothin, Say it Again (back)
2022
Neckpiece.
Peyote stitch, glass beads, Thread.
Photo: Michael Koryta
Joyce J Scott
He Said What?
2022
Neckpiece
Glass beads, thread, velcro, leather, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
Joyce J. Scott
Rechristening
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
Joyce J Scott
Rechristening (Side View)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
Joyce J. Scott
Rechristening (close up)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
Joyce J Scott
Rechristening (Back Detail)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
Joyce J. Scott
Rechristening (Detail)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
Joyce J Scott
Rechristening (Pedestal Detail)
2022
Sculpture
Glass beads, plastic beads, mixed media. Armature, thread embroidery, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
Joyce J Scott
Mz. Teapot
2022
Teapot
Glass beads, plastic beads, thread, wire, armature, woven and peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta
Joyce J Scott
Mz. Teapot (Back)
2022
Teapot
Glass beads, plastic beads, thread, wire, armature, woven and peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta
Joyce J. Scott
Mz. Teapot (Side)
2022
Teapot
Glass beads, plastic beads, thread, wire, armature, woven and peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta
Joyce J Scott
Mz. Teapot (detail)
2022
Teapot
Glass beads, plastic beads, thread, wire, armature, woven and peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta
Joyce J Scott
Smokey Clouds
2021
Neckpiece
Glass beads, beaded beads, silver beads, malachite beads, turquoise beads, onyx beads, pearls, mixed natural stones, thread, wire, peyote stitch
Joyce J Scott
Liturgical
2022
Neckpiece
Glass beads, wooden beads, plastic beads, plastic ink pens, wire, peyote stitch
Photo: Michael Koryta
Joyce J Scott
Fertility
2022
Neckpiece
Glass beads, wooden beads, plastic beads, plastic ink pens, thread, wire, peyote stitch.
Photo: Michael Koryta
Joyce J Scott
Red Intersections
2021
Neckpiece
Glass beads, beaded beads, hand blown glass rods, thread, wire, peyote stitch
Please join us
Saturday, October 8th, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
at
Mobilia Gallery
358 Huron Avenue
Cambridge, MA
to celebrate the work of Joyce J. Scott
mobiliaart@verizon.net or 617-876-2109
Picasso and Pie will be served. We invite you to read the full story that inspired Picasso and Pie here.
Joyce J. Scott received MacArthur “Genius” Award, 2016!

“Fearless, a force to be reckoned with, and as beautiful inside as out, Joyce J. Scott touches the soul and conscience of the viewer with her powerful imagery. A legend in Baltimore, Joyce is an historian, printmaker, weaver, sculptor, performance artist, vocalist and educator. She is perhaps best known for her work in jewelry, beadwork, and glass. Combining a heterogeneous mix of media (glass beads, African sculptures and masks, found objects), she creates powerful sculptural commentaries, rich in color, texture, popular culture, pathos and her own ancestry.”
– Lynn Ward, City Paper’s Best of Baltimore votes Joyce J. Scott: Best Artist
“The rich social import of Scott’s work is matched by its visual richness. Scott describes her beadwork as a cross between sculpture and painting. The artist treats the beads like the dabs of paint in a Pointillist canvas, but unlike paint (a medium Scott has tried), glass beads have the advantage of being translucent and can both capture and reflect light. Scott’s virtuoso weaving technique – a method similar to crochet called the peyote stitch, which she learned from a Cree Indian – allows great fluidity of form, resulting in protruding hollow forms and undulating effects. Scott is always seeking greater technical challenges; her work has grown increasingly more daring and dazzling in its visual richness and range of subject matter.”
– Susan Grant Lewin, “One of a Kind: American Art Jewelry Today
Renowned as the “Queen of Beadwork,” Joyce J. Scott’s exuberant beaded sculptural forms and neckpieces are provocative and confrontational, addressing contentious political and social issues such as gender, race, and class struggle. Born and raised in Baltimore, Joyce is a descendant of African-Americans, Native Americans, and Scots. Three generations of storytellers, quilters, basket makers, and wood, metal, and clay workers inspire her artwork.
Her earliest art lessons were received at home as she watched her mother, the renowned fiber artist, Elizabeth Talford Scott, create quilts using unconventional embroidery and appliqué techniques. Deeply rooted in her ethnic and family heritage, Scott’s work comments on issues affecting contemporary society in an effort to elicit awareness and response. The eloquent artist states, “It’s important to me to use art in a manner that incites people to look and then carry something home – even it it’s subliminal – that might make a change in them.”
Quotes
[This is] the one life we know we have. I can’t be complacent about the world I live in.
It’s important to me to use art in a manner that incites people to look and then carry something home – even it it’s subliminal – that might make a change in them.
Art can be a life force. That’s why so many people in other cultures integrate it into everyday use.
I know I’ve got an itch. I guess I just want to keep making work that confounds me. I want to be confused, ignited, knocked down by my own work.
I believe in messing with stereotypes, prodding the viewer to reassess.
We’re all trapped in gender, race, and class if you believe you have no freedom of choice and are under the weight of other people’s suggestions about what you are.
To make a difference in the lives of children, we must be much more honest and up front to them about the society we’ve created. I don’t believe in shielding children from issues they are seeing everyday. It is smarter, especially for an institution that has a charge to educate, to say, “What is this about?”
Press
Selected Public Collections
- American Craft Museum, New York, NY
- Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
- Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY
- Charles A. Waustum Musuem, Madison, WI
- The Corning Museum of Glass, New York, NY
- The Detroit Institute of the Arts, Detroit, MI
- Druid Hill Park Revitalization (Collaboration), Baltimore, MD
- Frederick Douglass- Issac Myers Maritime Park/ A Living Classroom, Baltimore, Maryland
- Harlem Park Square Revitalization, Baltimore, MD
- Howard Peter Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens in Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, MD
- Kruithuis Museum, Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
- Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis, MO
- Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
- The Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts, Montreal, Canada
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
- Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
- National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
- Nations Bank, Charlotte, NC
- Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority, Philadelphia, PA
- Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
- Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK
- Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
- Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, RI
- Roland Park Country School, Baltimore, MD
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington, DC
- Spirit Square Center for the Arts, Charlotte, NC
- Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC