PUBLIC ART AND LARGE SCALE WORKS

CITY CREEK JEWEL: TACOMA, WA 2007

            CITY CREEK JEWEL is a series of seven mosaic wall panels made from hand-cut porcelain, depicting Puget Creek winding its way into the urban landscape of Tacoma.  The panels, ranging in size from 16” x 30” to 36” by 70” are framed in steel and attached flush to the north and west exterior walls of the Kandle Park Police Substation. Total mosaic coverage is approximately 75 square feet.
            The mosaic starts with the depiction of salmon returning to Puget Creek.  The water is dynamic and moving through every panel.  The plants and animals depicted are all native species: stellar jays, sparrows, crows, western hemlock, western cedar, twinflowers, swordferns, and, of course, salmon. 
            The piece starts organic, realistic in theme, but as the salmon move upstream into the city, the mosaic becomes more abstracted, symbolizing the separation of a city from nature.  The creek becomes a road, the plants become houses, and the salmon become birds.  The piece closest to the main entrance of the substation is the most abstracted.  The angles of the mosaic echo the sweeping angles of the substation itself.  The large, colorful shapes are easily seen from a distance while the tiny details and movement of the mosaic can be enjoyed and touched up close. 

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