St. Mary's Park Sculpture, San Francisco Chinatown, CA
Client: San Francisco Chinese Culture Center
Lead Artist: Kyungmi Shin
Painted steel, LED light
14'w x 6'd x 20'h
This outdoor sculpture is designed for the expanded area of St. Mary’s Park at the edge of Chinatown and the Financial District in San Francisco. The two figures leaning against each other create the Chinese character “人” which means a human being, a person, or people. Inspired by the pictogram’s original inspiration of the two human characters leaning on each other, this sculpture commemorates the site’s history as the site of the first Chinese temple, Kong Chow Temple, which served as a community center that helped the early Chinese immigrants in a hostile foreign land. The cut letters of Chinese and English are the wishes posted by the devotees of the current Kong Chow Temple. The sculpture also celebrates the human connection, the need to help each other, and the collaboration between cultures.