“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

—Emma Lazarus (1849–1887) Poet / Author of The New Colossus
(A sonnet written in 1883 to help raise money for the Statue of Liberty)

Geometric Totem is a vertical beacon of geometry and light. Inspired by the 1876-84 traveling exhibitions of the Statue or Liberty’s right arm elevating a torch, the totem is similarly meant to embody the future hopes and aspirations of immigrants, visitors and citizens alike.

The dynamic form of the totem is meant to inspire viewers to move around and underneath it. The body form is geometrically precise yet open and ephemeral, allowing light and air to pass through it. Encoded with the logic of a three-dimensional geodesic lattice structure, the totem suspends fifty floating leaf-like petals. Each petal is unique in shape and color, yet collectively they form a cohesive dynamic form in the sky. In the evening this form is illuminated to create a dramatic effect of color, light and shadow.

Lead Artist: Jason Kelly Johnson; Project Team: Nataly Gattegno, Joel Frank, Carlos Sabogal.

This project is currently in the Construction Documents phase. A half scale version will be installed in January 2019.