S P R I N G F L I N G! 
Platform Reception Date:
Saturday, May 19th, 2012, from 1-3pm
Vast (Creature)
My quest for exploration lies within the fantastical universe within our seas.
As a teenager, I had my first scuba diving adventure. My father had a friend who was an underwater photographer. For a week, we lived on a sailboat in the Virgin Islands and dove shipwrecks twice a day. I will never forget how completely taken I was by the variety and vibrancy of life living just beneath the surface.
I became a Rockaway Artist Alliance member before I moved to Brooklyn. I had a friend in Carroll Gardens who really wanted a sticker for her car to be able to park at Fort Tilden without getting a ticket. She brought me to meetings in exchange for this sticker. Fort Tilden offered a very dynamic community rich in art, theatre and gardening. It contained an aura of a place where magical happenings were inspired, and creative souls are celebrated.
Both of my parents were raised in Brooklyn. They were already familiar with the magic the sea offered to the beachcomber. My dad would capture all types of creatures from the ocean and put them in his fish tank for observation. They instilled this love of nature into their four children. That love is very evident in my artwork.
A new MTA Arts for Transit project, designed by artist Callie Hirsch, was recently installed at the Beach 105 Street station.
Hirsch created fantastical aquatic creatures set against rich blue and green backgrounds of water.
She worked with the glass fabricator Erskin Mitchell, who interpreted her artwork into three groupings of faceted glass panels. Each is a striking portrayal of organic ocean forms made radiant by the strong light that reflects off the nearby ocean.
Hirsch, inspired by childhood experiences, explores the universe beneath the seas through her artwork. As a child, she was fascinated by the family fish tank filled with creatures taken from the ocean.
As a teenager, her interest was heightened when she began sailing and scuba diving. The variety and vibrancy of life beneath the surface continues to be a major interest to her.
With a love for the Rockaway landscape, Hirsch says the ocean is one of the most desirable places on earth. Through “Vast,” she hopes to “encourage viewers to acknowledge and respect the beauty of the sea as well as consider their own participation in the power and wholeness of the natural world.”
Photography
School Of Art, Media, And Technology
“I look to make art more accessible and enjoyable, so that it becomes an everyday experience for people,” says Callie Danae Hirsch.
Hirsch’s work Vast was recently installed in New York’s Rockaway Beach subway station as part of the MTA Permanent Arts for Transit Program, allowing thousands of commuters in the Rockaways to encounter her art daily. Her mural, consisting of 15 faceted-glass panels mounted on an outdoor platform, superimposes a translucent seascape over the view of the Atlantic Ocean. “I want viewers to consider and embrace their own connection to the natural world,” Hirsch explains.
Hirsch enjoys having her art seen outside the confines of an art gallery, although she has frequently exhibited in New York City and was invited to show at the Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea in Florence in 2001. Hirsch’s designs appeared on packaging for the popular Sweetriot candies, and her paintings were recently purchased by Hotel 718 in Brooklyn.
