Artwork Detail

On the Same Team Study

Object Date: 2021

Medium: Digital painting

Imperial Dims: Framed: 17 1/2 x 24 7/16 in.

Department(s): Health Services

Supervisorial District: 1

About the Artwork:

In this artwork, called On the Same Team, the artist expresses the community’s desire for the bond of trust when individuals can rely on each other towards a communal effort. Hem states that he used the metaphor of group jump rope to convey this message in the most inclusive way. In his experience, group jump rope is a game with no rivalry or competitiveness, where children collaborate to create a joint rhythm.

Hem purposely created a scene of diverse children at play in a fantastical landscape familiar to Boyle Heights; the mural depicts the bandstand and hotel turret from nearby Mariachi Plaza transported to a surreal waterscape, which reflects mounds of cotton-candy clouds. Hem explains his goal is to evoke wonder and fantasy, similar to how he felt as a child seeing the murals in his neighborhood. This is a digital print of the mosaic mural of the same name.

About the Artist:

Raised as the child of Cambodian immigrants in Los Angeles, Andrew Hem’s illustrative paintings bridge disparate aesthetic influences as well as cultural touchstones and sensibilities. Since earning a BFA from Art Center College of Design illustration, Hem has painted murals on six continents and exhibited in venues ranging from the Oakland Museum of California to the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh. To learn more about the artist, visit: https://www.andrewhem.com