A Day in the Sun by Amy Ellington
A Day in the Sun is a mosaic that celebrates San Diego’s natural and coastal environment. As passengers exit TSA security and enter the recomposure area, they will encounter a series of intricate column mosaics, layered with color to subtly evoke the ocean, shore, and sky. Composed of nearly one million hand-set glass tiles, these vibrant columns shimmer with patterns inspired by the transition from sunset to sunrise. This colorful glass is also embedded into the terrazzo floor, suggesting the glint of light on wet sand and extending the pier and beach theme.
Amy Ellingson is an artist interested in contemporary digital experience and modalities of abstraction. Her work is held in many corporate and public collections and has been exhibited widely in the United States and in Tokyo, Japan. Ellingson is a San Francisco Bay Area native and has lived and worked in Santa Fe, New Mexico since 2018.
RISE by Matthew Mazzotta
Rise is a larger-than-life sculpture, performance space, and shade structure inspired by the purple-striped jellyfish (Chrysaora colorata), a species often seen off the San Diego coast. The jellyfish-like canopy is made of a shimmering, chainmail-like material that sways in the wind, giving the impression that the sculpture is alive. Beneath it, a stage hosts both scheduled and spontaneous performances, with a bench nearby for audiences to gather and watch. After dark, the jellyfish head glows warmly from within, bringing the piece to life for evening visitors to the new terminal.
Matthew Mazzotta works at the intersection of art, activism, and urbanism, focusing on the power of the built environment to shape relationships and experiences. His public projects have received international art and architecture awards such as the CODA Awards, Architizer A+ Award, Azure’s AZ Award, as well as “Architecture Project of the Year” by the Dezeen at the Tate Modern in London. Matthew is a TED Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fulbright Grantee, a Smithsonian Artist in Research, and a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University.
Migrations by Walter Hood
Migrations is a site-specific artwork that celebrates San Diego’s history, landscape, and sky. Two striking red and yellow sculptures, standing 20 and 40 feet tall, feature papel picado patterns created by local children, honoring the shared wonder of flight. Artist Walter Hood drew inspiration from early Migration Period art (c. 300–900 CE), known for transforming bird mythology into vibrant polychrome designs. These massive, bird-like forms have grounded beaks that symbolize the connection between earth and sky. Influenced by Indigenous, colonial, and immigrant narratives, the work explores birds as universal symbols of transcendence, rebirth, and freedom.
Walter J. Hood, is a multidisciplinary designer globally recognized for his contributions in art, landscape architecture, urbanism, and research. His passion for landscape and urbanism emerges from its broad, democratic scope, allowing experiences beyond architectural constraints. Infusing African American cultural arts into his philosophy, he established a unique voice, reshaping spaces to reflect contemporary needs without erasing their history. A professor at UC Berkeley and former Harvard educator, Hood penned “Black Landscapes Matter” and has received accolades like the 2019 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2021 Architectural League’s President’s Medal award, 2023 WSJ Magazine Innovator in Design award, and the 2024 Scully Prize.
Torrey Pines by Nova Jiang
Torrey Pines captures the essence of the rarest pine species in the United States. Critically endangered, these exquisite trees grow only along the San Diego coast and on two of California’s Channel Islands. Suspended above the ticketing checkpoint, the sculpture features three wind-sculpted forms, their canopies transformed into a flowing stream of water that appears to travel through the air. Though still, the elegant, twisted shapes suggest movement and energy, while their reflective gold surfaces catch the light and dazzle passengers below, evoking the unique glow of San Diego.
Nova Jiang lives and works in Los Angeles. Jiang’s practice often combines new technology and traditional artmaking techniques in unfamiliar ways, and spans painting, sculpture, work on paper, and public art. Influenced by her experience as a young immigrant in New Zealand, Jiang’s work addresses themes of identity, climate change, and xenophobia by juxtaposing familiar elements in unexpected arrangements. She has exhibited around the world, including recent exhibitions at Simone Subal, New York; Union Pacific, London; LAXART, Los Angeles; Centre Pompidou, Paris; National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung; ICC, Tokyo, among other venues. Jiang has also had major public art commissions in Los Angeles, Cambridge (Massachusetts), Sacramento, Seattle, Charlotte and San Diego.
Vessel of Light by Erwin Redl
Vessel of Light is a dynamic light sculpture composed of hundreds of custom-designed fixtures suspended above the new performing arts stage, forming a luminous canopy that enhances the energy of live performances. Each triangular light pays homage to the traditional basketry of the region’s Indigenous tribes, including the Luiseño, Cahuilla, Cupeño, Kumeyaay, and Northern Diegueño peoples. Suspended in pairs at varying heights, the lights create the artwork’s signature curved silhouette. Programmable and responsive, the fixtures are designed to interact with music from the stage’s sound system, radiating color and rhythm throughout the terminal and transforming the space into a vibrant, immersive experience.
Erwin Redl’s work blends conceptual-structural thinking with meticulous craftsmanship. In 2008, he created a sound and light installation for the Austrian Pavilion at the World Expo in Zaragoza, Spain. His largest project—a series of nine large-scale public art installations—was completed in 2016 for the City of Spartanburg, SC. His monumental kinetic light installation Whiteout was featured in Madison Square Park’s prestigious solo exhibition series in New York City during the 2017/18 season. Redl has completed major public art commissions for the New York Police Academy, San Diego International Airport, and San Francisco’s Union Square/Market Street subway station. He was born in Gföhl, Austria, and lives in Brackney, Pennsylvania and New York City.
To learn more about the arts program at San Diego International Airport, click here.
