Time and Presence by Robin Brailsford
Project Description
Brailsford's Time and Presence at Pico Station examines the disparity between human scale and the vastness of the earth and the cosmos. Two twenty-foot steel canopies were plasma-cut with images of the earth and the solar system. Each of the colorful panels casts changing patterns of light and shadow on people waiting, the platform pavement, and passing trains.
The central image of Brailsford's north canopy is the solar system, flanked by two triangular forms that represent the mathematical symbols for "less than" and "greater than" and allude to the expanding and contracting universe.
Brailsford's south canopy presents a triptych of the earth flanked by images of an orchid and a sea turtle. The copper-colored map of the earth is of the super-continent Gondwanaland, the prehistoric continent that combined the current seven continents. The iris symbolizes the plant kingdom and life on land while the turtle symbolizes the animal kingdom and life in the sea. These symbols represent life as it existed long before the appearance of human beings on earth.
Artist Statement
“When I do public art, I make things that belong to everybody.”
About the Artist
ROBIN BRAILSFORD studied art at Syracuse University and did her graduate work in sculpture at the University of New Mexico. She has created various works with materials ranging from concrete to neon lights. Her public art projects include a mural of stenciled paint and porcelain enameled steel in San Diego’s Chicano Park, and a multimedia work for the Grand Avenue Lifeguard Tower in Pacific Beach, CA. She has exhibited her work and done installations in California, Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico. She lives and works at Brown Field, an interactive space for art exhibits and performance in San Ysidro, California.
Display year: 1993 -
Locations: Pico Station
