In the wake of Art | Basel, still more big art news out of Miami. Artist Subi Roberto has recently completed her massive We Are Lightwalkers mural across the street from the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. The mural depicts genderless faces peering out of the wall – marching forward? – with illuminated third eyes created out of sheets of mirrored plexi donated by fashion designer Naeem Khan.
Roberto says the vast sea of faces is meant to depict “the power of the human mind; the strength human beings have in numbers when they are aware of the collective consciousness they choose to be a part of. It is about unity, uniformity and awareness; they all look the same, yet they are all different in their own special way. […] What I really hope people get out of it is that they understand we are all humans, it is our duty to be aware of other humans and be aware of ourselves. That’s why there is sparkle in the third eye. The world is changing and we are a part of that change.”
The Miami Herald reports on her process.
“Last year, around the same time, I knew after doing that wall I needed to be in shape,” she said from her modest apartment, not far from her current installation. Roberto hired a trainer. A massage therapist. Gobbled organic supplements. Began circuit training and rode her bike to the beach to build strength eight months before she found herself perched atop a rented lift before the wall.
And she still sprained her ankle twice in the building’s parking lot while working on the project from 3 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
“During the first week I worked from 5:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. but realized this was going to take me three to four weeks at that schedule. I need to wake up even earlier,” she soon determined. Rain on a Friday proved a pesky speed bump.
If you’re cruising on I-95 today, be sure to slow down a bit to check out the mural before the building its painted on falls victim to a development project and gets torn down – a real possibility, here.