Metamorphosis (2021)

Tristesse Seeliger , Karen Yurkovich

12651 Mitchell Rd

Area: East Richmond
Location: The mural is located at the Mitchell Island Cement Manufacturing Plant, at the entrance walls to the facility.

Materials: Outdoor Latex Paint

Program: Community
Ownership: Community
Sponsored By: City of Richmond
Also Known As: Lehigh Hanson Mural

Description of Work

Metamorphosis is a mural 7.5 feet high by 155 feet long, covering two separate segments of the outside property wall of the Mitchell Island Cement Manufacturing Plant. The imagery painted is the transformation (metamorphosis) of specific native plants into maps representing the territory.

Artist Statement

Nature changes and transforms into the territory, and then the territory gives back into nature. Interconnected and woven, this mural makes visual these essential cycles. It encompasses both the historical, existing and shifting relationships with place. Metamorphosis honours the cycles of nature into place and back to nature and metaphorically the transformations of industry. Yurkovich and Seeliger chose three plants that are native to BC and Mitchell Island, the Lyngbye’s Sedge, Typha latifolia, and Juncus Balticus. The form reflects the theme and the design allows the audience to "read" the cyclical theme, regardless of which direction you approach it.