Jim Hirschfield, Sonya Ishii
Jim Hirschfield, Sonya Ishii
Jazz Composition for Dimitri Mendeleyev
2002
Located at the main entrance of the Physical Sciences Building
“Jim Hirschfield and Sonya Ishii have worked as a team for nearly three decades. As a team they have created over 40 public artworks. Hirschfield teaches at the University of North Carolina where he was Chair of the Art Department from 2010-2017. He has received major awards from both public and private foundations, including awards from the NEA, North Carolina Arts Council, Graham Foundation, Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Art Matters, and the Rockefeller Foundation. He has a long history in public art and currently serves on the Public Art Network Advisory Council. Ishii began her professional career as an artist on one of the very early artist design team projects in Seattle Washington, working in collaboration with design professionals across the spectrum. She too has received a number of awards, including two North Carolina Artist Fellowships. Together, Hirschfield and Ishii have created public art projects ranging from freestanding sculpture to sculptural environments. Influenced by a site’s characteristics, their designs can be traced to the parameters of a site. At the same time, they strive to create works that ensure a variety of poetic experiences. When beginning a project, they search for a theme: Something about a place that inspires and directs their design. They describe this as finding an inherent truth that lends itself to becoming a visual metaphor. Their projects succeed through strong aesthetic designs that engage the viewer; once engaged, a discovery of layers of meaning begins, providing the participant with a multifaceted and meaningful experience.” - https://www.hirschfieldishii.com/aboutus