Client: Greystar

Overview

Growing Home is a site specific sculpture group that suggests a scene that one might find on the beach. The centerpiece is a monumental curvilinear sculpture evocative of a turret shell or wentletrap. The shell is surrounded by beach pebbles enlarged for scale. Together they form a welcoming place for people to gather or sit in a small group.

Goals

The goal of this work is to celebrate the city of San Diego and to create a gathering space for Park 12 residents and people visiting San Diego's Ballpark Village. The shell is perforated with text that tells the rich history of San Diego. At night, brilliantly colored LED lighting shines through the perforations allowing light to stream through the sculpture, revealing the inner convolutions in the same way that an X-ray would. This light paints the surrounding space with colorful projections, offering a dynamic experience in the day and in the night. Growing Home invites interaction by offering a seat at its base for visitors to stop and pose with the monumental sculpture. The local community has started a hashtag on social media where visitors can share their pictures with the sculpture (#Park12Shellfie).

Process

The laser cut text is arranged in bands that spiral down the shell in the same way that a shell grows from one season to the next. The most recent dates and events in San Diego history are closest to the opening at the bottom of the shell in the same way that a real shell has its most recent additions closest to the opening. A space at the base of the sculpture was intentionally left blank to allow room for future events of San Diego to be etched into the piece.

Additional Information

Dimensions: 17’8” H x 80” D (shell only) | Materials: stainless steel, LED lighting, concrete (rocks)