Houston Bayou
Collection: Houston Airport System (HAS)
2002
Glass tiles on wall and columns, terrazzo floor and cast bronze reliefs
Location:
George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
2800 N Terminal Rd
Houston, TX 77032
About the Artwork:
Houston Bayou (2003)
by Dixie Friend Gay
Byzantine mosaics, originally made from the 4th to 15th centuries during the Byzantine Empire, are patterns often made of small pieces of glass, known as tesserae, to create more detailed images; many were found in churches and had religious and sacred symbolism that focused on ideas rather than realism. Inspired by them, artist Dixie Friend Gay, born in Oklahoma in 1953, created this eight-feet-high by 73-feet-long mural of Byzantine glass tiles on a serpentine wall that is accompanied by five column wraps (each measuring 12 feet high showing clouds and bays) and a terrazzo floor design with cast bronze reliefs. Located within Bush Intercontinental Airport, the mural shows a landscape of a Houston bayou with various plants (such as swamp iris and switchgrass), trees (such as palmettos and cypress), and animals (such as blue heron and damselflies). As well, there are 37 bronze reliefs of native creatures, like lizards, turtles, frogs, fish, inserted throughout the floor. In preparation for the mural, Gay canoed and photographed miles of Houston's bayou system before creating a painting that was 1/5th scale of the final work. Overall, it took 1,500,000 pieces of glass, four full-time artisans, and a year to create this piece.
Bayou de Houston (2003)
por Dixie Friend Gay
Los mosaicos bizantinos, creados originalmente entre los siglos IV y XV durante el Imperio Bizantino, son composiciones formadas por pequeñas piezas de vidrio, conocidas como teselas, que permiten crear imágenes con gran detalle; muchos de ellos se encontraron en iglesias y presentaban simbolismo religioso y sagrado, centrándose en ideas más que en el realismo. Inspirada en ellos, la artista Dixie Friend Gay, nacida en Oklahoma en 1953, creó este mural de baldosas de vidrio bizantinas de 2,4 metros de alto por 22 metros de largo sobre un muro ondulado, que se complementa con cinco revestimientos para columnas (cada uno de 3,6 metros de altura que representan nubes y bahías) y un diseño de suelo de terrazo con relieves de bronce fundido. Ubicado dentro del Aeropuerto Intercontinental Bush, el mural representa un paisaje de un pantano de Houston con diversas plantas (como lirios de pantano y pasto varilla), árboles (como palmeras enanas y cipreses), y animales (como garzas azules y libélulas). Además, hay 37 relieves de bronce de criaturas autóctonas, como lagartos, tortugas, ranas, y peces, incrustados en el suelo. Para la creación del mural, Gay recorrió en canoa y fotografió kilómetros del sistema de pantanos de Houston antes de realizar una pintura a escala 1/5 de la obra final. En total, se necesitaron 1.500.000 piezas de vidrio, cuatro artesanos a tiempo completo, y un año para completar esta obra.
Houston Bayou (2003)
by Dixie Friend Gay
Byzantine mosaics, originally made from the 4th to 15th centuries during the Byzantine Empire, are patterns often made of small pieces of glass, known as tesserae, to create more detailed images; many were found in churches and had religious and sacred symbolism that focused on ideas rather than realism. Inspired by them, artist Dixie Friend Gay, born in Oklahoma in 1953, created this eight-feet-high by 73-feet-long mural of Byzantine glass tiles on a serpentine wall that is accompanied by five column wraps (each measuring 12 feet high showing clouds and bays) and a terrazzo floor design with cast bronze reliefs. Located within Bush Intercontinental Airport, the mural shows a landscape of a Houston bayou with various plants (such as swamp iris and switchgrass), trees (such as palmettos and cypress), and animals (such as blue heron and damselflies). As well, there are 37 bronze reliefs of native creatures, like lizards, turtles, frogs, fish, inserted throughout the floor. In preparation for the mural, Gay canoed and photographed miles of Houston's bayou system before creating a painting that was 1/5th scale of the final work. Overall, it took 1,500,000 pieces of glass, four full-time artisans, and a year to create this piece.
Bayou de Houston (2003)
por Dixie Friend Gay
Los mosaicos bizantinos, creados originalmente entre los siglos IV y XV durante el Imperio Bizantino, son composiciones formadas por pequeñas piezas de vidrio, conocidas como teselas, que permiten crear imágenes con gran detalle; muchos de ellos se encontraron en iglesias y presentaban simbolismo religioso y sagrado, centrándose en ideas más que en el realismo. Inspirada en ellos, la artista Dixie Friend Gay, nacida en Oklahoma en 1953, creó este mural de baldosas de vidrio bizantinas de 2,4 metros de alto por 22 metros de largo sobre un muro ondulado, que se complementa con cinco revestimientos para columnas (cada uno de 3,6 metros de altura que representan nubes y bahías) y un diseño de suelo de terrazo con relieves de bronce fundido. Ubicado dentro del Aeropuerto Intercontinental Bush, el mural representa un paisaje de un pantano de Houston con diversas plantas (como lirios de pantano y pasto varilla), árboles (como palmeras enanas y cipreses), y animales (como garzas azules y libélulas). Además, hay 37 relieves de bronce de criaturas autóctonas, como lagartos, tortugas, ranas, y peces, incrustados en el suelo. Para la creación del mural, Gay recorrió en canoa y fotografió kilómetros del sistema de pantanos de Houston antes de realizar una pintura a escala 1/5 de la obra final. En total, se necesitaron 1.500.000 piezas de vidrio, cuatro artesanos a tiempo completo, y un año para completar esta obra.