Client: Golden Gate Capital

Overview

“FISH” is a 9' x 13' mosaic mural made of collaged images – painted with acrylic, jeweled with cabochons, and covered with epoxy resin. It is an entirely invented underwater world, an aquatic vision, full of motion. Schools of fish span multiple tiles, travel over beads and coral. There are fish on top of fish, darting through fauna swimming past sea anemones. They touch acetate-patterned dollies, which is the artist's, Coral Bourgeois, interpretation of jellyfish.

Goals

This work is installed in a financial building overlooking the harbor in San Francisco, so with this piece Bourgeois wanted to bring some of those natural images indoors. Mirrors accentuate bubbles while reflecting the outside world. The entire landscape is collaged with varying thicknesses. The color is acid trip vibrant and the perspective is kaleidoscope. The densely populated sea city has traffic patterns, monuments, structures, and non-stop action. For the artist, the world is visual and tactile and fast. This piece is meant to integrate calming images of nature into a lively mural, bringing color and life to the building. These goals were very important in the creation of the overall design and guided the process of making a colorful and intriguing artwork.

Process

The collaboration was between the client and artist. The client felt the space was too corporate and wanted something to add color, texture and movement. Bourgeois thought an artwork with fish would be a good subject matter for a financial workspace because it could be soothing and colorful at the same time. She had just finished “Chelsea Flowers “ a 9’ X 17’ mosaic work in the heart of the flower district in Chelsea, New York. It is a mural that greets guests when they walk through the glass door of the Marriott Courtyard on 30th Street. "Chelsea Flowers" had been a departure from the most recent work Bourgeois had been doing. This was a continuous design that made up the whole landscape rather than separate images becoming part the whole. This new form was exciting and inspiration for "FISH". The client was very happy with the end result.