I used to take the 7 train every day to work, often traveling through Queensborough Plaza. During my morning and evening commutes I started to see a lot of tall buildings going up. Every day, it seemed, there was a new one.

I wondered who would be living or working in these luxury properties I saw under construction, and how these dramatic changes might affect the surrounding neighborhoods, including mine.

From my home and studio, I see these new structures from a distance as they shoot up on the horizon, so that scale is reflected in these pieces. Most of them are small, in contrast to the impressive size of the buildings in reality. My source materials are photograms I make of plants and flowers from my garden, as well as photograms of pages from the New York Times, often from the financial, real estate or home sections of the paper. I use pen and mixed media to complete the collages.

To see the videos I recorded from the 7 train (min. 7:12), as well as the work of other artists on the topic of luxury development and the changing neighborhoods of New York City, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZH7FJI6jGc

Mary Pinto

Mary Pinto