In early September, I completed my newest mosaic sculpture “The Passage”. It is a 7ft tall hand-sculpted door covered in a handmade stained glass mosaic I created with accents of handmade ceramic tiles I also created in the studio. The flower motifs are inspired by the Polish Folk Art ‘Wycinanki’. Below you can see my initial concept for the project. The color palette changed but most of the project stayed true to my vision.

My sculpture, “The Passage” is rooted in the intricate folk art of paper cutting from Poland, my place of birth. This is a theme I began exploring last year, looking back at traditional imagery from childhood on another continent and being completely captivated by it as an adult living in the United States for the past 30 years.

I wanted to share the wonder that these patterns inspire in me, hoping that the sculpture can transport folks to a different, new world as they stroll through town. The bright colors and fun, bulbous shapes are made to be eye catching, grabbing the viewer and pulling them in for a moment, adding something unique to their day.

Below is a glimpse into me creating the 10 stained glass mosaic inserts that went on both sides of the sculpture.

Next, you get a peek into the gluing of the inserts – as you can see I had two very helpful and eager assistants – they were not as calm in reality as they appear in the photos.

 

All glued, well the main glass sections at least. Next I began to play with the ceramic tiles and trying to figure out a fun way to integrate these with the rest of the design while also adding more hand cut glass mosaic patterns.

 Grouting was extremely tedious and had to be done in many stops.