Nature Wall

2019 New Utrecht (N) New York City Transit

Andrea Dezsö's "Nature Wall" features 14 glass and ceramic mosaic panels, fabricated by Miotto Mosaic Art Studios and placed along the Northbound and Southbound platform walls of the New Utrecht Av station. "Nature Wall" conceptually and aesthetically expands on Dezsö’s nearby metal artwork, "Nature Rail," located along the pedestrian transfer bridge of the adjoining 62nd St station on the D line. Using "Nature Rail"'s characteristic visual elements — specifically, plants and animals surviving on the urban stage — Dezsö composed a cascading set of mosaic murals, re-contextualizing her unique visual iconography and infusing vibrant color onto the station’s platforms. The plant and animal motifs borrowed from "Nature Rail" link the two stations by offering visual continuity, while the different medium of mosaic creates a distinct visual identity for the New Utrecht Av station.

Speaking about her inspiration for this artwork, Dezsö shared that her "imagination was captured by how wild plants found ways to survive and thrive in this very urban area. From abandoned lots to areas between buildings, nature found ways to grow alongside construction sites, structures of steel and concrete, even in potholes. It made me smile every time I saw an uninvited, un-nurtured plant surviving entirely on its own on the urban stage." She envisions her artwork as a celebration of this "urban thriving."