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Bronx
Park East Station 2 and 5 lines
Candida
Alvarez
The
challenge of public art is what makes it interesting. As an artist
who prefers to paint and draw, I enjoy the opportunity of placing
my work in the world, where it is always available.
Birds share air space with us, and many of us rarely pay attention
to them. But they are here with us and for some they provide wisdom,
insight and song. My birds are ordinary. I wanted to subvert them
and make them invisibly large and regal. By doing that, the birds
in their emptiness give attention to their transparency and how
they hold a space for the trees, the bushes, the snow, the branches,
the wind, the sky and the leaves to exist, like a still-life painting…where
the space outside of the object really creates the form of the object…
My birds are very still. They become templates of the possibility
that wind and air filled them once and they have left a mark...like
a footprint in the snow.
Simpson
Street Station 2 and 5 lines
Lisa
Amowitz
This project
presents the notion that structures, although built to outlast their
architects, are fragile entities. Before September 11th we took
our buildings and what they mean to us for granted. We assumed that
they would always be there as a backdrop to our daily dramas. The
vulnerability of our constructions is frightening. Buildings after
all, are only glass, concrete and metal. The effort and creative
thought that went into them, and the use they are put to, is where
their power lies.
This project represents my personal reaction and testament to how
New York City struggled to regain its spirit after the devastating
attack. It also represents the Bronx, continuously renewing itself
and blooming with spirit in many unexpected places as well as the
vibrant spirit of the individual, struggling to find what is beautiful
in what is often ugly, struggling to renew oneself after devastation.
I have chosen flower imagery to represent this spirit of renewal
rebirth, and rebuilding. Flowers return after the bleakness of winter.
They are like a face turned inside out with the spirit showing on
the outside. Flowers help us to embrace the beautiful mystery of
life pulsing through each person in every building in this city.
Flowers can be destroyed and still grow back to bloom another season.
This project may not be permanent or it may outlive its creator.
Hopefully it will become part of the urban landscape and also part
of the mental landscape of the weary traveler who will appreciate
the love its creator put into it. My wish is that in viewing this
art one senses that the spirit that flows through the streets and
buildings of the city is part of them and they are part of it, and
that as long as they are alive their spirit is stronger than any
building man can build or destroy.
Pelham
Parkway Station 2 and 5 lines
Tomie
Arai
Pelham
Parkway is a tree-lined boulevard that connects Pelham Bay Park
with the Bronx Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo. Because both
the White Plains Road line and the Jerome Avenue line are also within
the vicinity of large parks in the Bronx, I have chosen to honor
these sites with a panorama of trees and plant life indigenous to
New York City.
Fall foliage, spring blossoms and summer wildflowers accent glass
inserts of historical photographs from Bronx neighborhoods. Ten
photographs were chosen from the archives of the Bronx County Historical
Society to represent the community surrounding the station. These
images will be screened and fired onto glass. Spanning a period
from 1899 to 1969, they include views of Prospect Parkway, White
Plains Road, Tremont Avenue and specific numbered streets that cross
the path of the elevated tracks of the Number 2 subway line.
The title, “Back to the Garden,” is taken from the lyrics
of a Joni Mitchell song.
Gun
Hill Road Station 2 and 5 line
Andrea
Arroyo
These
works titled My Sun (Mi Sol), My Planet (Mi Planeta) and My City
(Mi Ciudad), are inspired by life in New York City where nature,
diversity and the environment harmoniously interact.
In my work, I celebrate nature and humanity while examining the
notions of gender, race and identity. My interest in the human form
derives from my background in dance.
Burnside
Avenue Station 4 line
Laura
Battle
Surely whoever invented the wheel must have been looking up. When
we look at the moon, we consider our place in the universe and imagine
destinations beyond our reach. We look to the orbit of the planets
around the sun to understand night and day. We leave in the morning,
we return at night. Motors, industry, and ultimately transportation
itself were no doubt born out of this singular encounter between
man and sphere. My project for the Burnside Avenue Station windows
links the universe with wheels-in-motion through forms and structures
common to both
Windows in an elevated station present a unique opportunity for
the subway rider—that of looking out and up. As I began to
consider the possibilities for these in particular, I thought about
the greatest of windows throughout the history of architecture,
the rose windows, which have dramatically and spiritually embellished
architectural spaces with their symmetry and luminous color. The
sun came to mind immediately. I imagined its circle looming large.
I though about wheels, then arrived at the idea of playing with
the geometries of circles as a way to link planetary orbs and wheels.
Both are geometries, timeless in form, an important consideration
for any permanent work of art.
Influenced by a mosaic floor pattern from the terrace at the Piazza
Campodiglio in Rome designed by Michaelangelo, I included these
round, oculus designs in my paintings and drawings. I remembered
how much the station longed for color and quickly arrived at blues
and yellows for my palette, for their reference to day and night,
and for their uplifting juxtaposition.
I look forward to the possibility that passengers hurrying to a
train or coming home from a long day at work might pause for a moment
or two to look at these windows. I believe that their spirits would
rise and that they would briefly be transported to another place.
Everyone can enjoy the timeless geometries found in the cosmos and
ponder their application here on earth.
Mt.
Eden Avenue Station 4 line
Amir Bey
The
original designs submitted to the MTA Arts for Transit program were
etchings on copper foil that are part of an on-going series of mine,
The Procession of Folk. This series is devoted to the notion of
people as waves and streams whose movements can be seen as processes
of social evolution.
The face is the key component for this series because of the simplicity
of the features of the face, and how those features can describe
the most unique characteristics of an individual. Since the vast
vocabulary of expressions of the face is universally understood,
the face is both personal and communal. A train station such as
the Mt. Eden Avenue station is an appropriate venue for The Procession
of Folk.
While I have carved and cast many sculptural designs in stone, bronze,
plaster, and other materials that are devoted to that series, The
Procession of Folk #3 installation is twelve faceted glass windows
and is also two-dimensional. I feel proud and fulfilled, not only
as an artist whose work will be seen and possessed by a community,
but also as an individual who rides the subways frequently and is
permitted to contribute to that environment with its currents of
daily public movement. In this way, the windows will be taking a
life and direction of their own through the use and interpretations
made by others, and will reach beyond my personal dreams in ways
that I would not be able to imagine.
Allerton
Avenue Station 2 and 5 lines
Michele
Brody
Working
with the layouts for the 2 and 5 red and green lines as they run
from the Bronx through Manhattan to Brooklyn, the four Mandalas
that I created for the Allerton Avenue Station were derived from
layering, twisting and turning the outlines of green and red into
a series of intertwining radiating patterns.
These Mandalas were generated with the desire to coat the train
platform with a central abstract image of color, light and form.
From up close, or afar, each Mandala is meant to at first dazzle
the viewer with color and light, then upon closer inspection, reveal
a central structure inspired by the mark of subway lines themselves.
Their meanings are open to interpretation, and are meant as a form
of meditation for the passing public and subway riders.
170th
Street Station 4 line
Dina Bursztyn
“Views
from Above” captures the essence of certain poignant moments
I have experienced while riding on the elevated tracks in the Bronx.
The time is sunrise, or most often, sunset.
The sky unfolds in brilliant colors—the train seems to be riding
among clouds, everything is coated with a glowing halo and the mind
becomes porous.
Reality, memories and dreams overlap.
West
Farms Square/East Tremont Avenue Station 2 and 5 lines
Naomi
Campbell
My
work is an organic response to the interwoven relation between man
and nature. Walking around East Tremont I noticed the train tracks
snaking past the Bronx Zoo. The immense green space of the Zoo with
all its animals is what caught my eye. Coming from a strong background
in art and animal sciences, I considered it as a twist of fate.
I went back to my old sketchbooks filled with a variety of animals
in all kinds of shapes and poses. It is what provided the starting
point for this project.
Since I was a child, whenever I lived within reach of a zoo, I would
always end up there. It was a kind of sanctuary for me in the urban
jungle. I decided to bring this idea of an oasis up onto the station
platform and transform the environment completely.
Gone were the monochrome colors of the surrounding neighborhood,
replaced by a fiesta of animals. Using the animals and abstraction
of shapes, I created a new world for the aboveground platform. Using
the organic qualities of the medium I chose to explore its properties,
pushing them beyond a simple 2-dimensional surface. I am interested
in the rhythmical nature of movement as it shapes colors creating
a kinetic movement that gives emotional depth and sculptural quality
to the otherwise flat medium. The love of form through sculpture
and the sensitivity to textures through printmaking lent sensitivity
to the form that allowed atmosphere to develop. The idea of chipping
away at the medium into facets sought the energy emanating from
what I loved about both primitive art and modern art simultaneously.
The final response is a voice of the natural rhythms found in nature
that reflect a deeper philosophy often bordering on subtle paradoxes.
Clean, simple statements reveal layers of existing thought that
run deep like a pool of poetic imagery. The idea of bridges marks
my work. Here, I am bridging community, global and interpersonal
bridges through a labyrinth of environments formed in glass and
touched by the nature of the sun. Working with glass and mosaic
is very liberating and is another way of working with art that can
be as expressive of the past as is of the future.
241st
Street Station 2
line
Alfredo
Ceibal
The
presence of animals (besides humans) means that we share the space
and experience of living in the city. If this is a good experience
in most cases and a bad one in some, these animals are here to stay.
Such is the case with birds. There are numerous species of birds
crossing the skies of New York City. They play in the gardens of
houses, in parks, and on rivers, beaches and lakes. Their amazing
combinations of colors and their singing add beauty to our lives;
their graceful behavior teaches us the art of appreciation and contemplation
of the natural environment that surrounds us.
“Permanent Residents and Visitors” depicts an aerial view
through the eyes of some of the most common birds living and visiting
the city: gulls, ducks, blue jays, eagles, cardinals, geese, and
crows, amongst many. Observing birds—the richness of their
colors, their flight, and their song—has always inspired me
to paint. Appreciating the perspective of birds reaffirms that these
creatures are definitely part of our lives. I feel the viewer will
be refreshed by the colors and content of this artwork and will
be reaffirmed like me by the fact that these creatures are a part
of our lives.
Neried
Avenue Station 2 and 5 lines
Noel Copeland
The
Neried Avenue Station is located near the famous Bissel Gardens,
founded in 1993. It is a community garden that provides organic
vegetables for organizations such as City Harvest, NYC Charity,
and Senior Centers. The garden serves as an education center for
adults and children as well as a resource center for the Parks Department
and Operation Green Thumb.
I have created nature designs for this station. I think the use
of flowers, trees, and animals are appropriate subjects for this
site.
Burke
Avenue Station 2 and 5 lines
Béatrice
Coron
Reading
on the subway is a daily commuter activity that is common but highly
individual. At the same time the Bronx has been the home and inspiration
for many writers. I wanted to celebrate the borough's rich literary
heritage that encompasses the voices of writers as diverse as Edgar
Allan Poe, Mark Twain, Shalom Aleichem, Jack Kerouac, Countee Cullen,
Cynthia Ozick, Grace Paley, Allen Ginsberg, Chaim Potok, E.L. Doctorow,
and many others. These authors tell the story of the borough from
colonial times to suburban and contemporary community developments.
Their works help us travel through time, into different social classes
and communities making each of us an insider.
In my project Bronx Literature, each glass panel celebrates one
writer and the atmosphere of his/her books. The station will present
the following books: Ulalume, Edgar Allan Poe; Mottel, the Cantor's
Son, Sholem Aleichem; The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin; and El
Bronx Remembered, Nicholasa Mohr. Each writer's stories or poems
are a window on a particular neighborhood at a particular time.
Each of the windows in the image also depicts people reading.
The artwork at the station will make us discover the many aspects
of the borough and enrich the everyday activity of commuting.
Jackson
Avenue Station 2 and 5 lines
George
Crespo
I
am both an installation artist and an author illustrator of children’s
books. I tapped into my experience as a storyteller for this project.
I designed images representing stories from six different areas
of Latin America—The Condor Prince, from Peru; How the Birds
Brought the Rain, from Mexico; The King That Wanted to Touch the
Moon, from Dominica; How the Sea Began, from The Dominican Republic
and Maria Cenicienta: A Puerto Rican Cinderella. The designs were
painted in oil on vellum paper.
219th
Street Station 2
and 5 lines
Joseph
D’Alesandro
Form.
I have always found that a simple silhouette can communicate a variety
of emotions and qualities. The basic shape of a person can be used
to express the components of a personality. Sincerity, happiness,
excitement, concern, love—a shape is an amazing tool to an
artist. He uses it to capture an essence. In these panels, I have
chosen silhouette to depict the personality of a populace—a
truth we can each find inside ourselves.
Color. Color is the most stimulating component of everything we
see. Here, different colors are treated with equal importance. A
variety of colors represents a mixture of cultures, nationalities
and ethnicities as well as our diverse individualities. Vibrant
colors, vibrant people. Simultaneously, the colors are used as a
complement to a series of tessellations—patterns created by
the repetition of geometric shapes. In the work of M.C. Escher,
rich landscapes are developed by using the negative space that comes
to life when two geometric forms overlap each other. In this case,
I thought it would be an ideal marriage of form and theme to merge
this style with the silhouettes. Using all aspects of color—tonality,
hue, placement, contrast, and saturation—I wanted to distinguish
foreground from background, positive from negative. I strived to
achieve an overall effect of simple yet complex design. It is the
very quality that I find fascinating about people.
The beauty of imagination, what sparks it?
Theme. The feeling I take with me when I view a piece of art is
a direct result of its theme. The figures I’ve used are subjective.
There is flexibility in their style and there is, always room for
further exploration. I serve the people that appreciate small wrinkles
in time. My goal is to achieve a simple reaction.
A smile
174th
Street Station 2 and 5 lines
Daniel
Del Valle
The Bronx River is an artery that flows from the South Bronx up
to Westchester County. It crosses through many neighborhoods, parks,
and passageways. For the last several years the Environmental Protection
Agency has been making efforts to restore the river—cleaning
and preserving the landscape for the community to enjoy.
My work is a representation of a group of people taking a canoe
ride up the river, visiting famous sites like the Bronx Zoo and
the Botanical Gardens, and passing through Bronx neighborhoods.
It also represents events that have become traditions in the Bronx
such as the Golden Ball Festival. In my representation people take
a canoe ride up the Bronx River, make masks, draw outdoors, plant
new trees, and clean up the environment.
Not everyone can take a magical trip on the river to see these sites
but the 2 and 5 trains allow people to travel to these locations.
I have designed graphic floral motifs for the niches that are situated
on the outside of the train platform. They represent the simple
reflections of nature that surround us.
Bedford
Park Boulevard Station 4 line
Lehman College Station
Andrea
Dezso
The idea
of a Community Garden came to me during one of my walks around the
Bedford Park Boulevard station in the Bronx. I did not see such
gardens in that neighborhood, and started playing with the idea
of creating an imaginary one to decorate the walls of this stop
on the 4 line. People leaving the neighborhood or coming back to
it will see colors and shapes that are different from the ones predominantly
found on their streets. Children will find critters and bugs hidden
at their eye level among the leaves which they may never otherwise
see in the city: a grasshopper, a ladybug, blue and green beetles.
Lehman College has a beautiful campus with grass, trees and squirrels,
but most of the neighborhood residents don’t see much nature
on their streets. The red-brown-tan of the many-storied buildings
and the gray of the pavement are the dominant colors on the streets.
The extremely wide avenues, the bridges, train tracks, overpasses,
garages, tire shops, a Laundromat with a beautiful broken neon sign
from the thirties, an old bakery, a couple of modern high-rises
in the distance, a few small convenience stores and the occasional
small family house give the neighborhood its urban industrial visual
flavor.
What if there were more colors, more playful shapes? What if there
were more plants? The community gardens I know are lush, rich, unique
little islands in the middle of the urban bustle where the planting
and decorating reflect the vision of several people. What usually
results is a unique composition of plants, colors, and shapes. Neighborhood
residents cherish these gardens as places of creativity, nature
and beauty.
I approached
my subject in a playful way, by combining real creatures with imaginary
ones and by working with scale: having monumental size plants and
bugs next to a cat of more or less regular size. I hope that my
garden will delight commuters and inspire them with its playfulness
and intense colors.
225th
Street Station 2 and 5 lines
Nicky
Enright
Much
of my work is inspired by the colors, energy, and motion of the
universe. I have been creating fragmented views of the universe
that play with notions of space and direction.
For this project I chose to create artwork that would evoke a calm
New York City under an energetic sky. Inspired by the subway, I
set out to make a reversible design that shows movement in many
directions. I created cityscapes where the skies evoke constellations,
shooting stars, orbiting planets and moons, and brilliant sunsets.
They also suggest motion, interaction, and freedom. These colliding
worlds, in their striking diversity, co-exist and are unified by
the silhouette of the city.
Aesthetically, the curved forms I created provide a welcome contrast
to the angularity of the subway system. The pieces are bright and
colorful and meant to be appreciated from a distance, as well as
from an intimate perspective. The works offer recognizable city
architecture under vibrant skies. In order to honor the people of
New York, I painted residential buildings rather than the cliché
NYC skyline.
My design is a tribute to New York. Through my art, I hope to encourage
commuters to view the city from an unusual perspective, one where
the enormity of the city is dwarfed by something much larger. Ultimately,
I hope commuters will forget their day-to-day lives for a moment
and conjure thoughts about the mysterious universe and our place
in it.
Woodlawn
Avenue Station 4 line
Josie
Gonzalez Albright
My
initial submission for this project was a sketchy idea showing children
playing in a park or playground against a swirling background. I
sketched and photographed children over a six-month period in various
stages of play in parks, playgrounds, outside, and inside. Soon
this evolved into a study of how children move into and through
space, stopping to observe, spinning, crouching, sliding, and running.
My young son Billy was a readily available model, and can be seen
in my sketches running after the birds and pointing at the kite.
Other models were Liam and Madeline Galvin who were inspirations
for the swing and bench designs. My visits to the Woodlawn area,
with its extensive park surroundings, provided much visual inspiration
as well.
During this time I also met with Willet Fabricators in Philadelphia
to understand how to design work for fabricated glass. Experimenting
with these images, I created collages with silhouette-like figures
and marbleized and handmade colored papers. I increased the scale
of the children to fill each window frame. For fabrication in the
faceted glass, I wanted a lot of clear glass to be used that would
capture the transparent quality of the children’s figures.
Warm shadows were created by using ‘fritte’ glass crystals
that were fused over the glass allowing for more flexibility and
detail with the material and adding a bubbly, raised texture to
the figures. Lots of clear glass also allows for light from adjacent
colored glass pieces to spill over and create exciting, new color
combinations as the sunlight moves through the station each day.
I worked with the architects’ measurements from the beginning,
visualizing how these images would fit into the 15 designated window
spaces for this project. Later, as measurements were corrected,
the intended five window designs at the center were changed to four
instead to allow for a wider window width that would better complement
the look of the fabricated glass. What you see here on view are
13 of the 14 window designs.
In November 2005, nine of the fourteen windows were installed at
the Woodlawn Avenue Station, with the remaining five scheduled for
installation in the spring of 2006.
Mosholu
Parkway Station 4 line
Corinne
Grondahl
My
work at its core deals with ‘change’—metamorphosis.
I got several inspirations from the site as well as the Algonquin
meaning of “Mosholu”—smooth stones. “Smooth
stones” brings to mind the expression, “diamond in the
rough,” the impact of pressure and time on raw material. In
fact, the metaphor, river water flowing over rocks speaks of the
flow of humanity through the station as well as the process of matter
in transition.
I have always loved the expression; “A man never steps in the
same river twice.” A river is a live moving force of nature
and not a stagnant pool. The time of day, the light or someone’s
mood—all these factors will make the impression of this installation
“change” on a daily basis.
The panels themselves speak of movement and transition. They stretch
beyond the parameters of the framing in all directions. The fact
that you are able to see through the panels integrates the inside
with the outside. Rather than a place to disembark from, it becomes
a destination. “Metromorphosis” alludes to the vascular
system of the heart and arteries, which is how I view the transit
system, essentially the lifeblood of the city. The side panels represent
the arteries and the middle panel, Mosholu Parkway station.
My work has always been about re-appropriating materials. I view
recycling as materials in flux—in the process of becoming.
“Birth of a Station” reflects this transformation.
The properties of glass are singularly suited for my work. Molten
material in suspended animation fully realizes my concept for this
station.
233rd
Street Station 2 and 5 lines
Skowmon
Hastanan
Since
I moved from Bangkok to the Bronx in 1973, the New York Botanical
Gardens has been a place where I can rejuvenate my spirit when I’m
feeling homesick. During my high school years I often walked on
Bedford Avenue to the Garden; I volunteered in the Herbarium when
my sister was renovating the Enid Haupt greenhouse. It is my sanctuary
when I am yearning for Thailand. In its tropical room, I imagine
myself back home in my old backyard. Looking at flowers and fruits
I can recall their Thai names.
This project is my homage to the Botanical Gardens.
Freeman
Street Station 2 and 5 lines
Daniel
Hauben
My
installation at the Freeman Street station consists of faceted glass
panels depicting Bronx street scenes. Faceted glass is similar to
stained glass, except that the glass pieces are an inch thick and
cemented together with epoxy. This makes them very strong, and able
to withstand the onslaught of wind and weather that it will encounter
as a piece of outdoor public art on the train platform.
There will be four large panels (four feet by eight feet), with
two each installed on the uptown and downtown sides of the train
platforms. The panels will be able to be seen from the street below
as well. In addition, each indoor area will feature a three-panel
alcove window, which will also be a faceted glass version of my
original work.
Kingsbridge
Road Station
4 line
Mario
M. Muller
My
aim is to create work that transcends the contexts of chronology.
I believe my images would look as good and relevant in 1934 as they
do in 2004. And thus will have consequences in 2094.
The four, 3-part compositions act as single cohesive scenes. However,
each panel can act individually as well as in diptychs. In environs
of demographic diversity, I believe public art should be inclusive
and provide relevance. Images need to reflect the cold (coats/hats)
and the hot (shorts/skirts) characteristics of New York City. The
length of shadows indicates different times of the year. The silhouettes
and shadows of my urban motif iconography evoke the fluid and mercurial
magic of this urban crossroads. Identity is established through
body language and gait rather than the shape of a nose or the logo
on a t-shirt.
Images need
to be able to be read from near and far. Interaction with the glass
windscreen panels will be activated close up from the platform where
commuters stand and wait for their trains as well as from across
the tracks. When engaging core principles of working in glass, metaphors
of windows to other worlds are all but inevitable. I wish to embrace
this potential by creating fictional windows to the sidewalk vitality
below.
183rd
Street Station 4 line
José
Ortiz
Using architecture and landmarks, the work that I am presenting
is a depiction of the cultural and historical perspective of the
area, which is known as the University Heights section of The Bronx.
The Bronx takes its name from Bronck's Farms, an early settler in
the area. Swedish immigrant, Jonas Bronck’s 500-acre farm lay
between the Harlem River and the Aquahung River—now the Bronx
River.
The theme of "Many Trails" symbolizes the multiculturalism
of this area from the time when Native Americans inhabited the land
through today's immigrant population. "Many Trails" also
symbolizes travel and finding one's way through the use of visual
history. The first panels show the area in which the Siwanoy Nation,
a branch of the Mohicans, resided before 1693. In this panel, I
have incorporated the "Many Trails" symbol used by the
Mohicans to symbolize the many moves they had to endure throughout
their history. Panel #3 is a representation of the first settlement
of Europeans in the area.
Although there is no actual founding date for University Heights,
the creation of this community included the Aqueduct, St. Nicholas
of Tolentine Church, and the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, which
is housed at Bronx Community College. Through the use of architecture
and landmarks several panels represent this area and the era of
its founding.
Panel #11represents the continuity to the story-—in order to
understand where you are going, you must first know where you are
coming from. The "Many Trails" symbol appears again as
way to connect the historical perspective of people from all walks
of life and varied cultures who have found their way to this small
lay of the land.
Fordham
Road Station 4 line
Moses
Ros
In
“Patriasana, Wholesomeland,” figures dance in a joyful
frieze across the Fordham Road station on the IRT line, their brilliant
colors and undulating forms evoking the vibrant nature of Fordham
Road, a shopping mecca for the Bronx. The figures’ shaped background
panels represent basic wholesome items sold in the shops lining
Fordham Road, such as an umbrella, a hat, a coat, boots, pants,
and gloves. The border between the panels and the rectangular window
edge is made of translucent glass, allowing the background colors
of Fordham Road to provide a muted backdrop.
These original images were created as paintings on canvas and carved
wood, translated into fused and faceted glass windows. The style
of the paintings is inspired by the printmaking process—the
wood, for example, has a curved background, like the block plates
used in printmaking. Abstracted figures on rectilinear canvas attached
to the curved freeform wood create a finished, assembled work of
art.
176th Street
Station
4 line
Juan
Sanchez
The
challenge was to create art that is attractive, beautiful and stimulating
for an urban train station. I wanted to visually convey a spirit
reaching and striving. Human hands reaching out toward each other
became the symbolic vehicle.
Hands are visually beautiful with corporal, theatrical and expressive
possibilities. With faceted color glass as an ideal medium, I wanted
to create images of certain transcendence; something universal and
experiential. I photographed hands and digitally converted them
into colorful silhouettes against contrasting color backgrounds.
From digital laser prints, I cut and tore them to create a series
of mixed media collages using watercolor, Color Aid paper and color
pencil. You can see hands from all directions reaching out for life,
meaning and fulfillment.
From these collages, multicolored faceted glass structures were
fabricated. The transition from photography, digital processing,
collage, and cartoon drawings to the final faceted glass windows
and windshields was an extremely stimulating creative process. There
were pleasant surprises along the way and the end results for the
artist was pure joy.
I hope that these colorful and dynamic faceted glass works will
transmit that same pleasure and joy to people waiting for their
next trains to arrive. I want them to feel their humanity commuting;
reaching out everyday.
167th
Street Station 4 line
Carol
Sun
“After
living in the Bronx, one appreciates its many virtues and expresses
gratitude that it is what it is and not what others say it should
be.”'
“Despues de haber vivido en el condado del Bronx, uno aprécia
sus muchas virtudes, y al mismo tiempo expresas gratitudes, que
es lo que es y no lo que otros dicen lo que el condado debe de ser.”
“Home is where the heart lives.”
“El hogar es donde el Corazon vive.”
This proposed artwork represents my metaphorical reflection of the
Bronx within a heroic time-scape comprised of the past, present,
and future.
Using a caterpillar’s metamorphosis, I want to show, simply
and directly, the idea that the Bronx is a place whose changes are
a part of its history, and whose families can look back and forward
in time with pride, knowing that they are responsible for many positive
changes and beautiful transformations to come.
In my panels I combine radiant outdoor urban life with the calm,
simple pleasures that are experienced in the home and community.
The day is just beginning and a warm cup of coffee sits on the kitchen
table. Outside in the breeze, ubiquitous sparrows playfully flutter
and build their nests while the school bus waits for students. Next
to the apartment building the quiet basketball court promises afternoon
games. These are not just bustling experiences of the inner city,
but the equally valuable notes struck by the more tranquil family
life that defines much of the Bronx.
This image of the Bronx is based on my personal experiences from
living there as a child as well as relationships I have with the
community as a mature artist. Like many families, we had few luxuries—our
lives revolved around my father’s job and our education. I
fondly recall the small daily treasures—eating candy from the
penny candy store, exploring the many parks, riding my bicycle through
the streets, marveling at vast sunrises and sunsets, summers at
Orchard Beach, walking through the New York Botanical Gardens with
my father, indulging in sweet ice cream sundaes on Fordham Road,
and the excitement of school trips to the Bronx Zoo.
I have witnessed the challenges faced by the borough—the problems
of urban decay, white flight, and racial and geographic prejudice.
I have seen the environment and population go through dramatic and
trying cycles of change. But looking at the Bronx, I continue to
see the positive influences prevail as neighborhoods find new ways
to thrive. These images express my belief that we can gather strength
and inspiration from daily life as it is modestly lived in the vibrant
Bronx.
*The first quote
is by Sidney Sun, the artist’s brother
Prospect
Street Station 2 and 5 lines
Marina
Tsesarskaya
I
have created several panels representing stylized city views of
the Bronx that can be seen from the Prospect Street station. The
panels represent the seasons: springtime where you see blooming
flowers and budding trees in front of buildings; summer—a landscape
full of green trees and flowers; fall, with falling leaves and darker
skies; and winter, with snow, and trees without leaves.
A series of four panels contain the same ironwork ornament design
that was used in the Prospect Street station, as well as many other
Bronx train stations when they were originally constructed. These
panels depict stylized buildings along with irises, connecting the
built environment with nature. It is intended for installation on
the east side of the station so that the sunlight can be seen through
the glass. The series include images of the Bronx by night along
with orange lilies, known to remain in bloom at night. These panels
are intended for the west side of the station.
I have chosen these images because they represent timeless views
of the Bronx, the four seasons that change constantly, flowers that
represent the borough’s connection to nature, and the historical
ironwork ornament that connects all of these images with today’s
Bronx train stations.
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