Collaging elements from past, future, and imagined courses, this mural was designed to activate Iridescent’s first K-12 science and engineering design studio in Historic South-Central Los Angeles.

The lower area, of this now demolished mural, depicted things rotating about an axis – a jet turbine, an arm, a bicyle chain & gear, legs, the blade of a wind turbine, an airplane propeller, and a truss – on top of the silhouettes of a gear and a saw blade, and with an electric motor in the center.

The images around belonged to other courses taught on the eye, the ear, balance, electricity, flight, sailing, and rollercoasters; and to possible future courses based on an array of physics, engineering, and biological principles.

The big idea was to suggest mechanical or behavioral relationships between things which might otherwise seem unrelated, such as an arm and a turbine – or a bird, an airplane, and a stingray – to inspire curiosity and a desire to learn more.

The mural was designed for this particular space and the client’s desire to maintain a calm interior, which is why it featured a lot of negative white space and lines-only drawings. Bolder colors were introduced as it unraveled away from the interior center, up toward the ceiling and out toward the storefront.

The colored areas were painted in a semi-gloss finish so that they would stand out from the flat white background in a subtle way.

While most of the images and symbols were new, a few came from graphic projects I had already developed for Iridescent, such as the eye, the ear, the slogan, the copper atom, and the children’s paper planes. To this degree, the mural also worked to reinforce Iridescent’s visual brand.

Not very long after completion, the organization was forced to move out of the space, and the mural was tragically cut up in an effort to save it in parts. (It couldn’t remain whole as the space was converted into condos half as tall.)


FOR / CLIENT

Iridescent (now Technovation) & ONR (Office for Naval Research)

SITES

Iridescent-ONR K-12 STEM Education Design Studio, Historic South Central Los Angeles, CA

MATERIALS + DIMENSIONS

  • · Acrylic paint
  • · 17′ tall x 20′ wide

WORK / CREDITS

Design & Painting: Ioana Urma. Photographs: Benny Chan (whole mural photo and crops from it) & Ioana Urma (process, close-ups, demo). Mural Animation Video: Ioana Urma (illustration, based on finished mural) & Cristiano Meira (animation).


Cristiano Meira animated Ioana’s illustration of the finished mural, to use as the intro to Iridescent’s educational videos.

A mural in pinks, oranges, yellows, blues, blue-greens, and greys is seen inside its industrial setting, framed by a concrete floor, a concrete wall, and a concrete ceiling. 
                                                        Large air ducts hang below the concrete beams.
                                                        The mural consists of large round area with a giant saw blade and a giant gear in the background, on top of which things rotate around a simple motor: 
                                                            a wind-turbine blade, a truss, part of a jet turbine, an arm, a bike gear, legs, and a propeller plane blade.
                                                        A wave and a rollercoaster start off the top of it.
                                                        An atom, an eye, an ear, and a person balancing are drawn around it.
                                                        A wave chasing a sailing canoe and the rollercoaster expand to the right, while a series of bird to paper airplane to fighter jet to stingray shoot diagonally right above.
                                                        An abstract giant hot air balloon rises above the central round area.
Many loose black marker concept sketches of the mural, showing the idea of a big round area where various things rotate, and the outline of a balloon above, 
                                        with a list of all the educational topics Iridescent teaches linked to various parts of the mural.
Zoom in on area of mural with the progressive grey line paintings of a bird, a paper airplane, a fighter jet... in a diagonal line up,
                                                                    and the very graphic blue and white frothy part of the wave as it crosses the area of the wall where one wall pops out 6-10 inches.
Zoom in on diagram of a copper atom, in magenta and orange. Zoom in on a paper airplane, as an orangish-red line-painting.
Zoom in on a paper airplane, as an orangish-red line-painting.
Zoom in on central round part of mural where things rotate around a motor, from a side view: 
                                                a turbine blade, a truss, the blades of a jet engine, an arm, a bike gear, legs, and a propeller plane blade.
                                                A big human spine is one the right, and a gear and saw blade in the background. Colors are in the yellow, orange, pink, with a dash of blue.
Zoom in on diagram of a copper atom, in magenta and orange.
Zoom in on pink rollercoaster, with abstract blobby grey people on it, and a grey truss supporting it.
                                Parts of a the jet turbine and arm showing interior skeleton bones also show.
Zoom in on diagram of blue outline ear next to a large human spine. 
                                                        Iridescent’s motto: “I imagine. I invent...” is written in blue above.
Zoom in on area of mural with the progressive grey line paintings of a bird, a paper airplane, a fighter jet, and a stingray in a diagonal line up,
                                                            with the yellow and orange parts of the big balloon on the left., and a big greenish-blue wave chasing a yellowish sailing canoe below.
Zoom in Yakaboo sailing canoe in light mustardy yellows floating on a wave, 
                                                                    with the big frothy wave headed for it on its left.
Zoom in on abstract grey acrobat supporting an upside down lady acrobat on his head while holding 
                                                                            a long red stick to balance.
                                                                            Above that is a diagram of the eye in front and section views in magenta and light blue.
                                                                            Iridescent’s motto: “I imagine. I invent. I engineer. ” is written in blue below.
Zoom in on central round part of mural where things rotate around a motor: 
                                                            a turbine blade, a truss, the blades of a jet engine, an arm, a bike gear, legs, and a propeller plane blade.
                                                            A big human spine is one the right, and a gear and saw blade in the background. 
                                                            The rollercoaster is on the top right.
                                                            Colors are in the yellow, orange, pink, with blues and green-blues of the beginning of the wave above.
Zoom in on wave as it crosses the area of the wall where one wall pops out 6-10 inches, 
                                                                        in various shades of blue and green-blue.
Zoom in on bike gear, with chain and pedal attached. 
                                                Parts of the large background gear, saw blade, and rollercoaster show.
                                                Colors are salmon pink, orange, light blues, and greys.
Zoom in rollercoaster as it turns upside down in a loop, becoming thinner and more abstract in the process.
                                                                Mural signature “ioana ‘10” is right below. Colors are mostly light greys.
Two men on a ladder cutting out parts of the mural. The large abstract balloon portion is intact, but most of the rest is gone, exposing the metal studs inside the wall. Part of the leg cut out in front of the leg of a man working to cut the mural apart.
Two men on a ladder cutting out parts of the mural. The large abstract balloon portion is intact, but most of the rest is gone, exposing the metal studs inside the wall.

When the organization was suddenly required to move out – the space being converted to condos – a few parts of the mural were (somewhat brutally) saved.

Part of the leg cut out in front of the leg of a man working to cut the mural apart.

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