Marcus Amerman

Marcus Amerman brings exacting photorealism to Native American beadwork, creating intricate portraits from thousands of seed beads with a precision usually associated with oil painting. Born in Phoenix in 1959 and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Amerman learned traditional Choctaw beading techniques from his aunt at age ten. His breakthrough came with the 1993 Iron Horse Jacket, a leather jacket studded with a photorealistic beadwork portrait of Brooke Shields.