it leaves

2009

linear mural at rowan dozier layover bus station, east los angeles, ca
client: civic art program, los angeles county arts commission

materials: paint
size: 450’ x 7’
painting contractor: calco painting
stencils: pure black inc
photos: larry hirshowitz, merge

I have walked through many lives,  some of them my own.
(STANLEY KUNITZ)

Here is what I have and what I owe,  please listen to the count, the story and the sound.
(PABLO NERUDA)

no doubt the next chapter in my book of transformations is already written.
I am not done with my changes.
(STANLEY KUNITZ)

the creation of the large-scale mural was part of a remodel of a layover bus station in east los angeles. three concrete masonry walls, each 150 feet long, define the perimeter of the station. over time, these walls are being overtaken by deciduous vines, transforming the walls into a backdrop for nature’s play of growth, seasonal change and renewal.

the artwork plays with the notion of obscuring and revealing. painted patterns and text fragments were arranged in several layers to create a lace-like appearance and add a light, transparent quality to the walls. the patterns were derived from the leaf, flower and fruit shapes of the plants in front of the wall. each pattern appears on the wall in direct vicinity to the plant it was developed from. the patterns playfully interact with each other as well as with their natural counterpart and vary between denser, more detailed areas to more open, loose arrangements.

additionally, fragments from two poems are integrated into the patterns – one from pablo neruda’s book “the sea and the bells”, the other one from stanley kunitz’s poem “the layers”. both poems describe life and its meandering ways in face of an ever-changing nature that, compared to our daily lives, seems to follow its own rhythm.

as nature has slowly overtaken the walls, a transformation has been reached: the words of the poets are hidden, to be rediscovered in the next seasonal cycle of nature.