Yumei Hou’s design captures the spirit of an outdoor folk dance from the Northeastern provinces of China, which typically involves groups of people of all ages, men and women, dancing vigorously in a variety of costumes to celebrate happy occasions such as Chinese New Year, birthdays and grand openings. Perfectly suited for the new municipal addition to San Francisco’s Chinatown, this piece will highlight community gathering and public artwork.
Outside of storage and installation, Yumei Hou’s piece in particular will utilize Gizmo’s fabrication expertise. It will require water jet cutting 50 aluminum sheets, and the cut metal panels will be painted with 3 coats of vibrant red carbothane. Once built, Gizmo will be anchoring the panels slightly off the wall inside of the Chinatown station underground, to accentuate the shadow work traditionally shown in traditional Chinese paper cutting.
Clare Rojas’ and Leslie Shows’ pieces will also require minimal fabrication from Gizmo. Rojas’ work is a tile mural that will be placed in the concourse of the Chinatown station subway. In Cathedral quilting style, the tiles are based on Chinese textile samples. Leslie Shows’ is creating a work approximately 36 feet wide and 15 feet high. The piece titled “Face C/2” is based on a photographic image of iron pyrite, or “fool’s gold” and comments on the notions of value, aesthetics and industry. This piece will be fabricated in mirrored, painted and engraved glass, sheet metal, gravel and other permanent materials. In the meantime Gizmo will be in charge of the storage and installation of Jim Campbell’s “Illuminated Scroll”, Erwin Redl’s “Lucy in the Sky” and Moto Ohtake’s “Microcosmic”.
(Image provided by SFAC, artist Yumei Hou’s final mural design)
