Lillian Putulik Chevrier is an artist based in Montreal, QC, who focuses on the flat stitch in her beaded jewellery. A mainstay of her practice is community and belonging; she uses beading to connect with and feel pride in her culture and Indigenous culture more generally, as well as to take part in the beading community online. She also advocates for Indigenous people through the network where she works. Putulik sells her work under the Instagram handle @lilbeadwork, as well as at pop up markets around the Montreal area.
Putulik took up beading in June of 2020. The timing coincided with her graduation from school and the onset of COVID, meaning she suddenly had more time to focus on art and was looking for a passion project to take on. She had been following the beading community online, but it was a Texas beader that she became friends with who encouraged her to start beading herself and selling her work. “She gave me that push to not be afraid and not have imposter syndrome,” says Putulik. [1]
Her work incorporates a slew of varied pop culture references, from portraits of Bob’s Burgers characters, Nintendo’s Kirby or The Office’s “Prison Mike,” to beaded avocado slices, the Pepsi logo and much more. “I grew up around a lot of film and media,” says Putulik, adding that her focus in school was on arts, literature and communications. She particularly enjoys mixing media with different mediums, bringing in elements of the natural world. Sometimes this means surrounding her pop culture references with floral motifs, and sometimes it means incorporating natural materials like porcupine quills, shells, caribou fur and sealskin into her designs, when she is able to access them. Putulik frequently trades with her circle of artist friends in Montreal to get sealskin and other harvested materials for use in her designs. These same friends serve as inspiration for her: “they motivate me to push myself further into my beading journey and not be scared of creating whatever I’d like.”
Beyond her earrings, Putulik also creates a range of lanyards, necklaces, keychains and popsockets, in addition to beaded portraits. After two years of being intimidated by the technique, she taught herself how to do the brick stitch and to create beaded fringe, and in 2023 following a workshop in Inuvik, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT, began working with sealskin. 2023 was also the year she began working with companies like the First Nations Lands Managers Association for Quebec and Labrador, creating pieces for them to gift at conferences, and getting more invested in pop up marketplaces by setting up promotional advertising materials and her own payment system. Putulik attended seven marketplaces from 2022 to 2023 and curated her own market, the first ever Indigenous Summer Market in Hudson, QC, in July 2023. In the future, she wants to learn the peyote stitch, begin to work with fish skin and continue to connect with more people in person and online.