Subway with Yellow and Blue began with the idea of making a stairway that was blocked off at the top, and, in the back, on the same diagonal, a descending stairway that seemed to go somewhere. It was only later that I realized that I had actually seen such a stairway at an IRT stop I frequently used. Sometime after that, I realized that my interest in this detail had to do with the traditional entrance being blocked and inaccessible, with entry to the interior possible only by the non-traditional “back” stairs. As I worked on the piece, I became aware that it bore a resemblance to small mausoleums, especially those I saw in a cemetery in New Orleans. I began to think of this work as a “dream” house, with a basement, hidden passageways, secret rooms, a subterranean life. The feeling grew on me that what I was making was the small, visible surfacing of something vast, hidden, unknown and perhaps powerful.
