Located in the mezzanine window at the Bay Pkwy station, "Tree of Life" bridges the art of contemporary photo collage and traditional Chinese paper cut to evoke the community that surrounds the station in a masterwork of precision and grace. 

Xin Song began the project by photographing the busy street below the elevated station. Using traditional paper-cutting techniques, she then transformed the colorful imagery from her photos into an intricate pattern, creating a symmetrical and vibrant flowering tree. This unique work is laminated between thick panes of glass and can be viewed from two sides. From the outside of the window, a black silhouette appears, creating a graphic filigree reminiscent of Brooklyn’s historic iron work. The interior view, which serves as the focal point upon entering the station's mezzanine, is a colorful collage of the contemporary life in the neighborhood. For Song, the subway itself, the surrounding neighborhoods and people's daily movements, are the threads that connect the diverse community. 

The complex interplay of Song’s cut paper designs with the color, forms, and figures meticulously cut out from the photographs offer riders a visual record to continuously rediscover their surroundings. The pattern and techniques in "Tree of Life" speak to all, including the many Asian-American families who have transformed the community in recent years. 

Xin Song is a New York-based artist who was born and raised in Beijing. She creates modern paper-cut works that borrow imagery from contemporary magazines, considering large questions about social & political values. Song uses the Chinese folk paper technique (originally called Jianzhi) to challenge our taboos, our relationship with society, and the way we think about ourselves. Her diverse themes range from venerable flower motifs and landscape studies, to urban scenes that reflect her longtime residence in New York. She has had numerous public commissions, multiple awards and grants, and national and international exhibitions.