"Transposition is a site-responsive exhibition showcasing the work of fifteen acclaimed artists of the Americas working in the mosaic medium. The site is INScape, the arts and culture enclave occupying Seattle’s former Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) building. Renovations have preserved the building’s original character and role as “the Ellis Island of the Pacific Northwest”; and the artists and organizations housed within both preserve and evolve the building’s role as a nexus of cultural vibrancy in the greater community. Given the familiar metaphor of humanity as a mosaic, the building's former and current functions, and the mosaic medium's centuries-long dispersion, migration, and evolution, we invited artists working in the medium to respond to the theme of transposition, or trans-position, broadly imagined.
In an effort to broaden the exposure of the medium in the Pacific Northwest, this showcase is timed to coincide with the Mosaic Arts International exhibition currently hanging at Tacoma's Museum of Glass. Join us at the 1st Thursday artwalk to kick off this exciting compilation of national and international artists responding to a uniquely local landmark."
And here are a couple of my 10"x10" NYC Water Towers, Pt.2 panels, followed by my show statement:
NYC WT, Pt.2, #1
NYC WT, Pt. 2, #4
Silently standing sentinel, solitary wooden water tanks on metal trestles have serviced New York City for more than a century, providing water to every building over six stories tall. These low-tech water towers are at once part of the iconic NYC cityscape; yet, although they're a critical part of the city's infrastructure, they're often unnoticed or considered obsolete.
Many immigrants passed through this INS building with dreams of making it big in America. But many of these individuals ended up like the water towers: they provide critical human infrastructure that contributes to our collective prosperity, yet they're taken for granted.
We talk about the Untied States as a cultural "mosaic", which is fitting when we consider the fact that in a mosaic, many individual tesserae, especially those in the background, are overlooked altogether. In this minimalist approach to the medium, all tesserae are foregrounded in celebration of the unique individuals who passed through this building with limited resources to help create the American Story.
Karen Dimit
