Acrylic on Drywall

10’ x 18’

2026

Because every mural is so site-specific in how it is experienced, each one comes with its own limitations and opportunities. I love a rectangular, smooth expanse of wall as much as the next muralist, but getting to incorporate architectural or functional elements into the design is always exciting. It takes the mural out of mere decoration and makes it feel embedded in the space. It becomes a little more present in the viewer’s world. In this case, the two elevators and their accompanying controls demanded a symmetrical composition, the only problem being that they are not centered on the wall. Plus, I think fully symmetrical designs are boring. So how does one make something asymmetrically balanced? Part of my approach was to make the large holding elements symmetrical, while subtly shifting the smaller elements into asymmetry.

Inspired by the elevators as moving liminal spaces, I was thinking about ascent and passage in the conceptual development of this mural. The vertical movement of the elevators made me think of transitions between states, which led me to the Egyptian myth of the “weighing of the heart.” In Egyptian mythology, the weighing of the heart was the judgment of the dead, where a person’s heart was placed on a scale against the feather of Ma’at, the goddess of truth, justice, and cosmic order. If the heart was found in balance, the soul could pass on; if it was heavy with wrongdoing, it was devoured. Above each elevator is either the heart or the feather, with the elevators themselves symbolizing the scales. On the opposite side, I mirrored the site’s actual signage in an alien language, as if another system of meaning were layered just beneath the everyday one. While neither of these elevators will take you to the Duat, I would love for the viewer to pause and ask themselves what dwells in their heart before stepping on.