Client: City of Laguna Beach

Overview

“Coalescence” is a 14 x 20 foot ceramic and porcelain floor mosaic commissioned by the City of Laguna Beach, CA. Composed of 3659 hand drawn pieces (plus thousands more square tesserae), the work covers the entire surface of the primary pedestrian crossing in the Laguna Canyon. This work celebrates the unique natural character of Laguna: the meeting of the ocean and canyon environments represented by the threatened local Dudlea succulent blossoming from a nautilus shell cornucopia.

Goals

The City of Laguna Beach commissioned this project in order to activate and bring visitors to utilize an important pedestrian artery where people cross the Laguna Canyon storm channel from the primary road to the entrance to the Sawdust Art Festival. The artwork was designed to directly compliment the local ecology and echo the color palettes of other nearby public artworks as well as the canyon itself.

Process

The design was created digitally during the proposal period, I then presented the design to the City Arts Council, and then they voted to award the commission. Working from my design, I hand drew each individual piece, digitized the drawings, and cut the shapes from larger tiles using a Waterjet. The pieces were then catalogued, packed, and driven from my studio in Brooklyn cross country to Laguna Beach, CA for assembly and installation. I worked with a very skilled tile installer once on site where I assembled the work into 12x12" sections to be fit together like a giant puzzle on the surface of the bridge. Assembly and installation took approximately 3 weeks to complete.