The Immigrant

The Immigrant by Michael Murphy is a 3D halftone sculpture. When you view the 2,300 wood balls from the position of the footprints printed on the ground, you see an image of Michael Murphy's partner, Natasha Vladimirova.

This work calls attention to the positive contributions immigrants make to our communities. This tribute is intended to introduce positivity into a negative and overly politicized conversation.

Please do not go beyond the stanchions.

We invite visitors to stand at the footprints located on the floor in front of the sculpture. Once situated on the footprints, we recommend taking a photo of the installation.

The image looks clearer in a picture because the camera lens flattens the image, creating a 2D effect. This is easier for human eyes to comprehend due to the difference between humans having two eyes (binocular vision) and a camera having one.

Michael Murphy is an American artist and inventor best known for pioneering his unique style of art-making that is referred to as Perceptual Art.

His technique, with a primary emphasis on the viewer’s perception, is best described as “illusions of images rendered in three dimensional space."

Murphy studied sculpture at Kent State University in Ohio and received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He continued to pursue his career in creating commissioned artworks while teaching Art and Technology in Universities for thirteen years. He left his tenured teaching post in 2013 to devote his time exclusively to creating art. He lives and works in New York City.

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