Artwork: "How to Get to the Moon" (Laura Battle)

"Surely whoever invented the wheel must have been looking up. When we look at the moon, we consider our place in the universe and imagine destinations beyond our reach. We look to the orbit of the planets around the sun to understand night and day. We leave in the morning, we return at night. Motors, industry, and ultimately transportation itself were no doubt born out of this singular encounter between man and sphere. My project for the Burnside Avenue Station windows links the universe with wheels-in-motion through forms and structures common to both.

Windows in an elevated station present a unique opportunity for the subway rider, that of looking out and up. As I began to consider the possibilities for these in particular, I thought about the greatest of windows throughout the history of architecture, the rose windows, which have dramatically and spiritually embellished architectural spaces with their symmetry and luminous color. The sun came to mind immediately. I imagined its circle looming large. I though about wheels, then arrived at the idea of playing with the geometries of circles as a way to link planetary orbs and wheels. Both are geometries, timeless in form, an important consideration for any permanent work of art.

Influenced by a mosaic floor pattern from the terrace at the Piazza Campodiglio in Rome designed by Michaelangelo, I included these round, oculus designs in my paintings and drawings. I remembered how much the station longed for color and quickly arrived at blues and yellows for my palette, for their reference to day and night, and for their uplifting juxtaposition.

I look forward to the possibility that passengers hurrying to a train or coming home from a long day at work might pause for a moment or two to look at these windows. I believe that their spirits would rise and that they would briefly be transported to another place. Everyone can enjoy the timeless geometries found in the cosmos and ponder their application here on earth." Source: cuny.edu.