Each Of These Beth Harmon Chess Symbol Mosaics Was Made By Hand

The Queen’s Gambit, a Netflix miniseries that debuted in October of last year and became the platform’s most-watched scripted miniseries in only four weeks, has taken the globe by storm. The popularity of the series naturally inspired many artists to produce incredible fan art, such as these gorgeous mosaics by Greek artist Charis Tsevis.

In a recent interview, Charis said that mosaics had been a lifelong fascination for him. “I was captivated with extreme complexity in digital imagery, as well as the arts of the so-called computer underground,” the artist remarked. “ASCII ART, ANSI ART, and any machine art interested me. So it was easy for me to fall in love with mosaics.”

Charis Tsevis, a Greek artist, has made a mosaic series of Beth Harmon from ‘The Queen’s Gambit.’

Charis claims that he honed his style via trial and error. He found it very tedious that no one had attempted to employ more than one size of tesserae until the late 1990s (the small parts of a mosaic). “I could better describe a picture by using varied sizes, but I could also give depth and perspective to my mosaics,” the artist stated. “My attempts drew a warm response, and I continued to explore for years.” At some time, my work crossed over into the mainstream and was picked up by major media outlets and clients.”

Charis has worked with numerous prominent businesses, including eBay, Apple, and Procter & Gamble.

Thousands of chess symbols are used to construct each mosaic

When asked why she picked Anya Taylor-Joy to depict in his mosaics, the artist said she believes her to be a fascinating character.

“Not just an intriguing character with profound experiences including loss, sadness, and fury, but also a person who discovered herself via the game of chess,” Charis stated. “I don’t play chess, but as someone who grew up in the same age as her, I have a lot of love for the game and the great players.”

Each of Charis’ mosaics may take anything from 2-3 days to 2-3 weeks to create – and up to 2 months for something more challenging, such as his murals for the US Olympic team’s House in Rio 2016. “I might be quicker these days,” the artist adds, “but I always want to devote a lot of days to produce something perfect.”

“Mosaics are a centuries-old art form. It’s a brilliant concept. You’re making something new out of something old. “Every living and non-living organism in nature is a mosaic,” Charis stated. “However, even abstract concepts may be expressed as mosaics. That’s a fantastic idea. In both nature and philosophy, there is a perpetual zoom in and zoom out.”