Saturday In The Park

Invited by the Prospect Park Alliance to work with their archives and create an artwork that was casual and carefree for their Gala, I was inspired by the whimsical nature of the commission to expand on optical illusions previously employed in my artworks.  Continuing with my interest in both cognitive and visual perception, and intrigued by the way motion detectors could create yet another body relationship to the artwork, I explored interactivity and colored lights. First, I converted photos from the park’s archive into two-color channels prints, then, by projecting complimentary colored lights, I created a system of subtractive light and additive light that optically “erased” and “revealed” the photographic image as the viewer trigged the motion detector (toggling the color lights back and forth).



Arduino motion detectors, colored LEDs, dye-sublimation photos on cured adhesive vinyl, mirrors  

South Street Seaport - Lenticular Histories (LMCC's event Preview Video)

After years of working with photo archives, the invitation to create a new edition of Lenticular Histories using the photo collection of the South Street Seaport Museum was remarkable given that I was born into an immigrant family, granddaughter of a Sicilian fisherman who came to NYC to become stevedores. At times, the museum's collection read like a family album.  However, inspired by the Seaport's complexity and aware of its problematic histories, I found myself expanding out from the singular collection; among others, I used images by Gordon Parks and Berenice Abbott in the interest of inclusivity and equity in representation. The act of folding personal histories into my artwork made me acutely aware of the issues of Italian American representation in the public sphere and its troublesome connection to the monuments of Columbus. While this singular iconic figure signifies colonialism and oppression, he should in no way be the public face of the entire Italian American culture.

South Street Seaport - Lenticular Histories - River to River LMCC

The last in a series of tabula scalata-style lenticular artworks, where each wall displays historic photographs divided into vertical strips; interspersed between these photo-slivers are mirror panels equal in size to the photographs. As the viewer walks by and changes their visual sight line to the artwork, what they see is the interplay between the photos and reflections of themselves in the surrounding park. Engaging the audience through the act of looking, the sculpture features three forms of optical illusion: stereoscopes, lenticular, and crystal prisms - all of which blend reflections, rainbow-colored light, and history into a singular working system alluding to the intertwined chaos and harmony of a public space.

In partnership with The Howard Hughes Corporation and the South Street Seaport Museum.