Inspired by the guerrilla art practices of seed bombing and yarn bombing, over the course of January and February 2026, I peyote-stitched roughly 30,000 pony beads into three 18” x 40” FUCK ICE “bead bombs” to adorn utility poles across Tovaangar. On February 25, 2026, I installed the first bead bomb - a fluorescent orange and grey piece - on the southwest corner of Figueroa and Ave 22 on a utility pole at the entrance to the Home Depot parking lot in Cypress Park, where several violent ICE raids have taken place. I installed the second bead bomb at the northeast corner of Bruno and Alameda, directly across the street from Homegirl Cafe and the Chinatown metro stop. This medicine-wheel colored bead bomb pops against the shiny silver finish of a surveillance smart pole and highlights both the history of surveillance against Latinx communities in LA as well as the underrepresented attacks and deportations of Asian American community members. A third bead bomb hugs a traffic pole at the southwest corner of Cesar Chavez and Soto in Boyle Heights. Nestled between band flyers and room-for-rent ads, this piece celebrates the resilient history of immigrant workers and a community with a long history of fighting back.

I offered these bead bombs to the streets of Tovaangar in a creative act of resistance and refusal - a joyful, even if brief, reprieve from the violence and terror that ICE and other federal agents have inflicted upon our communities. Read the LA Public Press coverage of the bead bombs here.

In the summer of 2026, I created a fourth bead bomb for We The People, an art exhibition produced by Community Coalition and Sankofa.org. After the close of the show, the bead bomb will be gifted to the South Central community of Los Angeles.

Photographer Kenneth Lopez (Mixteco) documented the installation of the bead bombs and produced fine art photographs of the works. Check out more of Kenneth’s work here!