Feature Details

Name: Lightlines and Wall of Birds In Flight

Description: East San Jose Carnegie Branch Library features two public art elements by Joyce Cutler Shaw. Lightlines, a sculpture fabricated from aluminum coils, is suspended from the building's ceiling trusses in and around the main entrance and along the full length of the east/west hallway. Above: Lightlines, extending down the main corridor of the Library. Working with the community, Cutler Shaw explored the shapes, forms, and cultural and natural elements of the neighborhood. She identified imagery that speaks to this area and location, out of which she created a visual vocabulary she calls the East San Jose Carnegie Calligraphy. From this imagery she created laser cut, iridescent acrylic figurative elements that are suspended from the aluminum coils of Lightlines; these animate the artwork with reflective light. Wall of Birds in Flight is an installation on the Library's west wall in the children's area. The artwork plays on imagery of local birds in flight - some in silhouette, others in great detail and back-lit. The work brings natural elements of the outdoor environment - the neighborhood's abundant bird life - indoors.