making the 1000 tienqa shells

For The Shell Spread, a thousand shells were collected by hand from the beach. Each one was washed, dried, and carefully painted with the Tienqa pattern. Every shell was tagged and numbered, marking its place within the larger whole.

Once the thousand was complete, they began their journey back into the streets of the world. Left in unexpected places, they wait to be found. Each discovery creates a moment of connection, even when the finder has no idea where the shell came from or what it belongs to.

The International Series