Mimi Cahalan's "Good Long Look"

Mimi Cahalan Good Long Look Design Plans

Tags:: Culture; Metal; Acrylic; Wood

In 2008, Mimi Cahalan, a Santa Cruz, California-based artist, was commissioned to create a piece of art to line the outdoor entranceway to the Lido Apartments in Santa Monica, California. After months of design and fabrication work in her garage-cum-studio, the piece, titled "Good Long Look," was installed and unveiled to the public earlier this year.

— Miyoko Ohtake

Just like an architect designs his floor plans to guide visitors through doors and walkways to curated views, Santa Cruz, California-based artist Mimi Cahalan paid close attention to how the metal mosaic she created for the entranceway to Lido Apartments in Santa Monica, California, would be appreciated by passers-by. “It’s long and I wanted people to look at it,” she says, hence it’s title, “Good Long Look.” But the piece is also about slowing down and taking in ones surroundings. “When I was making the sculpture, I kept picking up sections and turning them as though I was walking past so I’d know what it’d look like once assembled,” she says. The painted board shown here was Cahalan’s hand-painted color piece that she worked from to create the final, large-scale sculpture. Although she often hand-cuts the metal she uses in her art, Cahalan created these drawings to send to Large’s Metal Fabricator, the Wastonville, California-based company that cut the aluminum pieces for "Good Long Look." Photo courtesy of Mimi Cahalan

+ Read Article