Cj Hendry's 'Pastel' Turns Salon 94 Design into a Bead-Filled Playground

At Salon 94 Design in New York, artist Cj Hendry has created 'Pastel,' an interactive installation featuring a shallow pool filled with thousands of pastel-colored beads. Visitors remove their shoes, don custom socks, and climb into the pool to sift through beads shaped like flowers, smiley faces, characters, and New York City motifs. The installation encourages play and social interaction, with a poster offering a loose search-and-find challenge. Visitors receive two lengths of string to make necklaces, bracelets, or charms, and are free to improvise. The experience is designed to be socially porous, with strangers helping each other find specific beads and sharing their finds. Upstairs, Hendry presents her hyperreal drawings and painted bronze sculptures, including enlarged versions of the bead forms. The exhibition runs from August 6 to August 16, 2026, daily from 10am to 7pm, at 3 E 89th St., New York. Photography by Alexis Salas and designboom.