MTA Arts & Design

St. Lawrence Avenue

Alison Moritsugu

Community (Acer rubrum, Rosa palustris, Smilax rotundifolia, Carya cordiformis), 2011

Glass mosaic in platform windscreens

Alison Moritsugu's mosaics intertwine two definitions of the word community. Community speaks of both people living in a specific geographic area as well as plants growing together, sharing the same ecosystem. The glass mosaics highlight four plants endemic to the Bronx area. They include Acer rubrum (red maple), Carya cordiformis (bitternut hickory), Rosa palustris (swamp rose), and Smilax rotundifolia (common greenbrier). Woven into the background are images of the people who form the Bronx community. They live and work in the area and are the people we see and travel with each day. Once the hunting grounds for the early Siwanoy Indians, this area became farmland and later residential developments. Like the natural landscape, populations are continually changing and always in flux.