Artwork Detail

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Pentimento

Artist: Palmer, Erin Shie

Date: 2016

Medium: Glass

Artwork Dimensions: 66 x 144 in.

County Department: Medical Examiner

Artwork Site: Medical Examiner Annex

Supervisorial District: 1

Current Status: On view

About the Artwork: The garden at the Department of the Medical Examiner provides a place of respite for a facility that navigates the terrain between forensics and loss. In designing an artwork for this space, artist Erin Shie Palmer aimed to provide a meditative focal point for staff and visitors.


Palmer researched wishing walls and shrines from around the world to explore the connection between personal reflection and the duties of the Medical Examiner's office. She found that in many cultures, bells are used to call people together, to express joy, to mark the passage of time, and to signal a period of mourning. The 300 individually, hand-blown, glass bells in the artwork create an auditory and visual experience for the viewer. Each bell creates a distinct note. They are arranged in a random pattern and at different distances from the wall to suggest movement.  When the wind blows, a gentle chorus is created in a wash of blue to evoke images of moving water. The selection of glass as a material for this artwork is intended to underscore the fragility of life. To ensure that the artwork was suitable for an outdoor, public environment, Palmer enlisted the help of a fabricator who makes exterior, glass lighting fixtures. The thick glass makes the bells highly durable.  

The development of an artwork for the Medical Examiner's office was an iterative process that began in 2007. Palmer named the artwork Pentimento, after a style of painting that shows evidence or traces of an artist’s change in course. 

About the Artist: Erin Shie Palmer is a visual artist and architect who has worked in a variety of site-specific venues, including gallery installations, public art and theater design. She creates physical and psychological topographies by examining interactions and mapping relationships. For more information, please visit: http://www.erinshiepalmer.com