Last panel has been installed. Time to celebrate!

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.

The Wave, Rockaway news

Beach 105 Station Features Callie Hirsch’s 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.”

Solo Show titled "Nature's Pulse" at Suffern Free Library

Nature's Pulse, artwork by artist Callie Danae Hirsch,

On display at the Suffern Free Library, Feb. 5th thru Feb. 29th, 2012. Open to all!

Energy vibration, the life force of our universe, serves as the inspiration for the series of work presented by Callie Danae Hirsch. Curated for children and adults alike, Ms. Hirsch’s show is a compilation of pieces painted on traditional surfaces as well as an electric guitar (in collaboration with guitar maker, Brian Slyman), and two skateboards. In addition Ms. Hirsch showcases photographs of the MTA Commissioned work, VAST to be installed on the 105th Street A/S train platform in Rockaway Beach. Ms. Hirsch illustrates the pulsating rhythm, energy as a life force, and artistic possibilities in everyday objects.

Each painting demonstrates an attempt to resolve the conflict between personal identity as a living body and its place in the natural world. This discussion is shown through seductive patterns and flowing streams of energy represented by dots through the plains of the painted surface, which make the depth of movement magical. The natural world is visually alive in Ms. Hirsch’s work with all the twists and turns in which it travels. The patterning of dots represents this movement of natural energy and is threaded throughout the work.

“The paintings here are a glimpse into one person's process; finding conflict or resolution by creating forms inseparable from anthropological, spiritual and natural forces . . . cycling one's past into the present and back into a common past.” P. Lie, Designer

Nature’s Pulse will be shown at the Suffern Public Library
from February 5th through February 29th.
210 Lafayette Avenue, Suffern, NY (845) 357-1237 www.suffernfreelibrary.org

Parsons School of Design

http://regardingdesign.parsons.edu/2012/01/callie-danae-hirsch/

2011 | 01.23.2012Posted in Alumni Profiles

Callie Danae Hirsch, BFA ’86

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.

www.callieart.com

MTA Arts for Transit , Artist Callie Hirsch

From the MTA Arts for Transit page:

Beach 105 Street

CALLIE HIRSCH

Vast, 2011

Faceted glass

For the Beach 105 Street station, Callie Hirsch created fantastical aquatic creatures set against rich blue and green backgrounds of water. She worked with fabricator Erksin 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 and consider their own participation in the power and wholeness of the natural world."

Anyone in Pittsburgh?

Box Heart Gallery, PA

4523 Liberty Avenue Pittsburgh, PA

Phone: 412.687.8858

11th Annual Inter/National Exhibit

Public reception: Jan. 14th, 5 - 8 pm

Show dates: January 10 - February 4, 2012

If you are in the hood, please come by and check out the art! Some hot works are on display.

Charmed by Nature, 31" x 23" Iridescent acrylic on black cotton etch paper

Callie Danae Hirsch

MTA, Arts for Transit Commission, The Process...

Vast, Coming to Fruition...

This has been a three-year process. Mostly the time frame is due to the renovations being done on the station, the art is secondary.

To the left is called a cartoon. The glass fabricator creates this to indicate where the glass will be cut. After my original designs were accepted by the MTA, I then lay them out to fit the panels that will be installed at the station. The Fabricator takes it from there. First a sample is made from a design I send to the fabricator, which had elements from the three pieces.

On the top is one of the completed panels. There are five panels to each of the three artworks, making 15 panels in total. It is faceted glass embedded in epoxy, making it a very tough material, perfect for people height art.

I am hoping to have a platform party sometime in the end of November, but the platform is still under constrution (but still open), so the North side is not installed as of yet. I found a great bar down the road to warm up in afterwards, hope it's not mid-January!