Mary Miss worked with architect Lee Harris Pomeroy to use the rehabilitation of Union Square station as an opportunity to uncover hidden structural elements, cables, and conduits — some of which were still functional, and others that were replaced by new improvements. Old decorative work reappeared during construction, including mosaics, pilasters, name plaques, and six terra cotta eagles from the 1904 station that were presumed lost. 

Miss brings these treasures to the surface though a network of frames, windows, apertures, and mirrors. The bright red frames stand out, but what they frame is more subtle: a bolt, a fragment of ancient-looking mosaic, a piece of rusted steel cable. Other frames call attention to the station's historic name plaques. "I'm inviting the public to look below the surface, to see a 'slice' of the station, its structure, its history," says the artist. "In this most public of places, the apertures offer an intimate engagement. Looking in, you will see the station's workings — sometimes you will see layers of words and reflected images, including your own!" 

Mary Miss received a B.A. in art from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an M.F.A. from the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she studied sculpture. She is a pioneer of the land-art movement and created her first temporary site-specific installations in the 1960s. Miss’ works are interdisciplinary, often informed by the history and ecology of their settings, and include elements of architecture, sculpture, landscape design, and installation art. In 2009, Miss launched the City as Living Laboratory (CaLL), an initiative that encourages artists to collaborate with scientists, planners, and other experts to create place-based artworks that engage the public with the environment and issues of sustainability. 

Miss has received numerous awards and honors including three National Endowment for the Arts fellowships and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. In addition, her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Harvard University, and the Tate Modern.