Bay Ridge Av (R)

Strata

Katy Fischer
Mosaic by Katy Fischer showing many abstract shapes in bright colors on a white background.
“Strata” (2017) by Katy Fischer at NYCT Bay Ridge Avenue Station. Photo: Peter Peirce

About the Project

Artist Katy Fischer creates abstract shapes to convey an expansive sense of time. "Strata" references local history using imagined artifacts inspired by objects that could have been unearthed during the Bay Ridge Av station’s excavation in the early 20th century. The hand-glazed ceramic forms evoke items such as bonefish hooks used by the Lenape, the Delft pottery shards of early Dutch settlers, and Colonial-era tools and shoe buckles. Tiffany vases and railroad spikes mark the transition from farmland to a residential community, with the arrival of the subway. To aid in wayfinding, the contrasting background colors refer to the cyclical rhythms of the daily commute. 

About the Artist

Katy Fischer received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Solo exhibitions of her work include shows at 356 South Mission Road in Los Angeles, Space Gallery in Portland, and Julia Friedman Gallery in New York City. Fischer received a full fellowship award from Vermont Studio Center in 2014 and a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Fellowship Award from the Byrdcliffe Residency in Woodstock, New York, in 2012. She currently lives and works in New York.