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Title: Whitehead Link
Artist and Designer: Gwen Fisher
Materials: Glass, crystal, and metal beads, Fireline thread
Technique: Bead weaving, filled net stitch
Artist’s Statement: This beaded object uses two linked loops woven from crystal and seed beads. The weave is a curved version of filled net stitch in which the beads on one side of the cable are larger than on the other side. The difference in sizes makes the cable of beads curve towards the smaller beads. The coloring of the beads highlights the difference between the two links, and adds spiral designs along the surface of each link. In 1934, Henry Whitehead documented this particular way of joining two links (unknots) while trying to prove the Poincar´e conjecture. The Whitehead Link has Thistlethwaite Number L4a1, indicating that it is an alternating link with 4 crossings. In fact, it is the only such link.