The imagery for this fence commission came from an old postcard, which told me that this now nearly featureless coastal site had once been home to an amusement park that had rivaled Coney Island. It was called Wonderland. Here was a chance to bring Wonderland back, or at least the memory of its lights and sounds of roaring rides and people perambulating as they took in the sea air while ocean waves lapped the shore.
The budget was very small. It allowed for only one unique panel that would replace one of the standard fence panels already budgeted. My solution was to create an image of Wonderland in silhouette on the unique panel, working directly from the postcard. I then designed cut-and-welded steel imagery suggesting clouds and beach grasses to applique to the standard fence panels on each side, in order to extend the work’s visual impact over three panels.