Afruz Amighi, Sky Carpet, 2024, laminated glass with hand-painted enamel, beveled glass and iron, Khalil Gibran International Academy High School, Brooklyn ​

Polychromatic Landscape is a site-specific sculpture created by artist Graham Caldwell for the lobby of East New York Family Academy, Brooklyn. It is made of 25 separate panels fabricated from hand-cut pieces of iridescent black glass and epoxy clay. Individual, glass geometric shapes were joined together to form complex panels that interlock like puzzle pieces to form a continuous whole, with no beginning and no end. The way the panels are fabricated to fit together is meant by the artist as a metaphor for the school, its student body, and a sense of belonging. Each student is their own person with their own unique qualities, yet part of the larger whole at the same time. It is a visual representation of when individuals come together, amazing things can happen.  

Amighi researched a wide variety of global decorative traditions, drawing influence from the sinuous lines of Persian rugs and Turkish textiles and the geometric glasswork of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Her use of hand-painted enamel in sunny yellows, bright sky blues, and midnight navies borrows from the color palette in the mystical paintings of Khalil Gibran, a Symbolist artist, poet, and the school’s namesake. Sky Carpet is intended to be experienced as an object with poetic and literary symbolism as well as, as a non-object - an immaterial series of reflections. These reflections are enhanced by the use of beveling, where cuts are made in the glass to create angled surfaces that refract light. This kaleidoscopic effect showers viewers in splintered light, casting patterns on everything below, creating a warm and inviting environment for students and faculty.