Community
(Smilax rotundifolia)
2011Each set of 6 panels: 47” x 186 1/2”
Glass mosaics for the St. Lawrence Avenue Subway Station, Bronx, NY
MTA Arts for Transit commission
These glass mosaics intertwine two definitions of the word “community.” Community speaks of both people living in a specific geographic area, as well as plants that grow together sharing the same ecosystem. The mosaics highlight four plants endemic to the Bronx area: Acer rubrum (red maple), Carya cordiformis (bitternut hickory), Rosa palustris (swamp rose), and Smilax rotundifolia (common greenbrier). Woven into the background are the people who form today’s Bronx community. They live and work in the area and are the people we see and travel with each day.
Process
1.
Designs for Community (Acer rubrum) and Community (Rosa palustris) done in gouache on paper.
Mosaic fabrication: Miotto Mosaic Art Studios
2.
Full-size pencil drawing for Community (Carya cordiformis).
3.
Selecting glass colors at Miotto Mosaics.
4.
Mosaic fabrication in Spilimbergo, Italy.
5.
Mosaic fabrication in Spilimbergo, Italy.
6.
Mosaic panels after grouting.
7.
Panel installation at the St. Lawrence Ave. Station, Bronx, NY.
