Community Seed Pods
Five oversized and stylized mosaic seed pods “grow” out of a xeriscape garden in this whimsical, colorful public art installation. Steel poles support the sculptural mosaics, created with smalti and fused glass.
Site-Specific & Architectural Art Segment
144 x 240 x 120
Materials List
mexican smalti, fused glass
Installation Location
Anderson Mill Rd. at Olson Dr., Austin, Texas, USA
Collaborating Artist/Fabrication Team
Flatfork Studio, Helios Fused Glass Studio
Artist Statement
Tasked with creating a work of public art that represents my own neighborhood and community of over 30 years, I focused on growth, change, diversity, family life, and a love of nature. What emerged in my vision were oversized colorful seed pods, representing species that are known and loved in the area: milkweed, poppy, okra, magnolia, and pecan. Like our residents, not all are native to this place, but they make their home here. The seeds inside represent the children who are nurtured here before venturing out into the world. The visible seeds were created by over 100 community residents in workshops held at a local fused glass studio. Each one is unique, like our children.
I designed maquettes for each of the sculptural forms and hired a fabricator to produce them in concrete-covered styrofoam. Each one weighed between 200-400 pounds. Approximately 70,000 individual pieces of Mexican smalti create the vibrant colors of the pods, accented with tinted concrete.
The pods stand on steel poles, and emerge from a xeriscape garden, created and maintained by the artist and community members. When the garden is established, it will thrive with only the water that nature supplies with rainfall.
