Client: General Services Administration

Overview

Dimensions: 12ft x 40ft; Materials: Dye Infused Aluminum. This is a border crossing facility that straddles the towns of Columbus, NM and Palomas, Mexico. Focusing on the intermingling of these two towns, I went on walkabouts recording all the patterns, texts, color schemes, and visual languages that visually define both places. Using cartography as the visual structure, all of the geographical information is incorrect so this becomes a map of the culture of the people that live there rather than a map of the land.

Goals

The background brickwork is based on the stratification found in the mountains in the area. Because the building itself so reflects the landscape, I wanted my piece to reflect the people that live and work there. The goal was to visually contrast the color and patterning employed in the artwork with that of the design of the building without competing with each other.

Process

This project ran for almost 10 years because of construction delays and government shutdowns. I worked directly with the General Services Administration having worked with two different Project Managers. They were also responsible with mediating between my team with the CPB, Architect, and Homeland Security. I managed the installation team (Foret Co.) and the fabrication of the mural through ProLab Digital in Los Angeles.