Light Between the Islands background by Grimanesa Amoros
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THE MIRROR CONNECTION

Grimanesa Amorós THE MIRROR CONNECTION, 90 x 70 x 40-foot LED sculpture and light sculpture made of mixed media, LEDs, diffusive reflective material, and custom lighting sequence, its waterfall-like forms pulsing in white and yellow at a height of 33 feet through Arata Isozaki's landmark lobby, with a central reflective dome that captures the viewer's own image within the work. Exhibited at the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China, 2013.
Grimanesa Amorós THE MIRROR CONNECTION, 90 x 70 x 40-foot LED sculpture and light sculpture made of mixed media, LEDs, diffusive reflective material, and custom lighting sequence, its waterfall-like forms pulsing in white and yellow at a height of 33 feet through Arata Isozaki's landmark lobby, with a central reflective dome that captures the viewer's own image within the work. Exhibited at the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China, 2013.
Grimanesa Amorós THE MIRROR CONNECTION, 90 x 70 x 40-foot LED sculpture and light sculpture made of mixed media, LEDs, diffusive reflective material, and custom lighting sequence, its waterfall-like forms pulsing in white and yellow at a height of 33 feet through Arata Isozaki's landmark lobby, with a central reflective dome that captures the viewer's own image within the work. Exhibited at the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China, 2013.
Grimanesa Amorós THE MIRROR CONNECTION, 90 x 70 x 40-foot LED sculpture and light sculpture made of mixed media, LEDs, diffusive reflective material, and custom lighting sequence, its waterfall-like forms pulsing in white and yellow at a height of 33 feet through Arata Isozaki's landmark lobby, with a central reflective dome that captures the viewer's own image within the work. Exhibited at the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China, 2013.
Grimanesa Amorós THE MIRROR CONNECTION, 90 x 70 x 40-foot LED sculpture and light sculpture made of mixed media, LEDs, diffusive reflective material, and custom lighting sequence, its waterfall-like forms pulsing in white and yellow at a height of 33 feet through Arata Isozaki's landmark lobby, with a central reflective dome that captures the viewer's own image within the work. Exhibited at the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China, 2013.
Grimanesa Amorós THE MIRROR CONNECTION, 90 x 70 x 40-foot LED sculpture and light sculpture made of mixed media, LEDs, diffusive reflective material, and custom lighting sequence, its waterfall-like forms pulsing in white and yellow at a height of 33 feet through Arata Isozaki's landmark lobby, with a central reflective dome that captures the viewer's own image within the work. Exhibited at the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China, 2013.
Grimanesa Amorós THE MIRROR CONNECTION, 90 x 70 x 40-foot LED sculpture and light sculpture made of mixed media, LEDs, diffusive reflective material, and custom lighting sequence, its waterfall-like forms pulsing in white and yellow at a height of 33 feet through Arata Isozaki's landmark lobby, with a central reflective dome that captures the viewer's own image within the work. Exhibited at the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China, 2013.
Grimanesa Amoros video thumbnail for THE MIRROR CONNECTION

Location: Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum | Beijing, China, 2013
90 feet x 70 feet x 40 feet
Mixed media, LEDs, diffusive reflective material, custom lighting sequence, electrical hardware.

THE MIRROR CONNECTION is a 90-foot light sculpture created for the main lobby of the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum in Beijing, its illuminated, waterfall-like forms pulsing in white and yellow through Arata Isozaki’s landmark architectural space to create an environment in which viewers, the work, and the building dissolve into a single luminous whole.

  • Commissioned for the museum designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki and established as the first national school of fine arts in Chinese history, THE MIRROR CONNECTION placed Amorós in direct dialogue with one of Asia’s most architecturally and institutionally significant cultural spaces.
  • CollabCubed (2013) described the work as a huge waterfall-like scribble of LEDs pulsating in white and yellow, giving a sense of liquid flowing through tubes, with the lights bouncing off walls and intermittently casting shadows across the space at a breathtaking height of 33 feet.
  • Amorós drew the work’s conceptual foundation from two defining aspects of her practice: her preference for asymmetry and her search for infinite light, uniting them in a single commission that responded directly to the expansive lines and luminous qualities of Isozaki’s lobby.
  • The reflective dome at the center of the sculpture captures the viewer’s own image within the work, transforming passive observation into an act of self-recognition and positioning the work as a mirror in both the literal and philosophical sense.
  • THE MIRROR CONNECTION received coverage in Installation Magazine and CollabCubed (both 2013), affirming its place as one of Amorós’s most significant international institutional commissions and a landmark moment in her engagement with Asian cultural institutions.

    • When entering the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, designed by Arata Isozaki, I felt absorbed by the luminous space and expansive lines he created in the lobby. Museums are not just for exhibitions; but they are places where we can produce new ideas to share with viewers. Therefore, I took this opportunity to unite areas of my creative process. These themes included my preference towards asymmetry and my search for infinite light. By doing so, I replicated what I felt in the lobby of the CAFA Art Museum. The Mirror Connection is a piece where we connect with ourselves, the space, and the artwork.

    The Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing is one of China’s most prestigious and renowned art academies. It was the first national school of fine arts in Chinese history and the beginning of Chinese modern education of fine arts.

    Designed by Japanese architect – Arata Isozaki, the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum was established in September 2008.