Get to Know Your New Neighborhood Artwork at Mariachi Plaza Station
Guest Blog By Jennifer Lieu, Metro Arts & Design
“Hecho a Mano”— a new iconic mural located on the concourse level of Metro’s Mariachi Plaza Station— was recently installed. Her largest public art commission to date, artist Sonia Romero painted the mural on 700 square feet of aluminum panels in her studio. The painted aluminum panels, weighing in at approximately 150 pounds each, were transported to the station and installed over several weeks.
“Hecho a Mano” artwork installed at Mariachi Plaza Station. Photo by Elon Schoenholz courtesy of artist Sonia Romero.
Like other Metro artworks, a community-based panel recommended Romero’s artwork proposal after an extensive outreach and open call process led by Metro’s art program. To develop the concept and design for her artwork proposal, Romero engaged the Boyle Heights community. Deep familial and personal ties to the neighborhood and communities of Boyle Heights helped her to facilitate meaningful interactive community workshops at the weekly farmer’s market at Mariachi Plaza Station and Self Help Graphics & Art. For each workshop, Romero invited people to have their hands photographed holding an object that they felt described their connection to the neighborhood. Romero translated photographs of the hands holding objects, taken by long-time collaborator, Rafael Cardenas, into line drawings which she then used to create delicate paper-cut pieces of the objects.
With a strong interest in studying the shape, history and beauty of hands and the sacred objects they hold, Romero was inspired to create a pattern of hands holding objects to provide visitors a glimpse into the rich and unexpected stories of people from the neighborhood surrounding the station. Highlighting stories and histories of Latinx, Jewish and Japanese makers and workers from Boyle Heights, Romero presents the legacies and cornerstones of community struggle and resilience through objects of significance.
Capturing both historic and contemporary stories, visitors will find an eclectic mix of objects that intertwine Romero’s personal connection to Boyle Heights with those of individuals from the neighborhood. A landscape of monarch butterflies floating on top of a vibrant turquoise background is reminiscent of colorful oil cloth. The monarch butterflies are a nod to underlying themes of migration and visually unite the hands and objects against the backdrop of the mural.
The painterly brush strokes Romero used to create the hands contrast with the careful, precise line work of the objects, which are drawn from delicate hand cut paper. The paper-cut objects combined and contrasted with the painterly style of the hands underscore the playfulness of the title of the artwork “Hecho a Mano,” which translates to “hand-made” in English.
For more about Romero’s studio process and the creation of “Hecho a Mano,” watch this video. To learn more about Metro Art and sign up to receive information on future Artist Opportunities, visit: https://www.metro.net/art.
A pair of hands holding a handmade paper marigold flower were photographed at a community workshop then painted into the final mural.
Romero holds a delicate lacey translation of the paper marigold flower shown in the previous photograph. This papercut features a skeleton and paper flowers to highlight Dia de los Muertos traditions.
Carefully orchestrated coordination using four scissor lifts was needed to lift each of the heavy sections to securely mount them onto the wall.
Guest blogger Jennifer Lieu is a Principal Transportation Planner, Arts and Design at Los Angeles Metro.