Project Description
Artesia’s festive atmosphere inspired Edwin Ushiro’s design. Step off Metro and you’re immediately immersed in a tapestry of brilliant storefronts, fragrant spices, jewelry shops glittering with gold and family-run restaurants serving dishes from across South Asia.
While the poster captures Artesia today, it also honors the city’s history. Prominently featured in Ushiro’s artwork is the Artesia Water Tower, a landmark that remains the community’s most visible tie to its past. Once part of a system of artesian wells that gave the city its name, the water tower today now anchors the memory of Artesia’s roots amid a modern, multicultural community.
This artwork was commissioned for Metro’s Through the Eyes of Artists poster series for display in the fleet.
Artist Statement
“When I entered this location, I was immediately transported to another country. The brilliant decorations that welcome visitors at each business inspired my artwork, inviting Metro riders to explore the district’s food, shopping, and community events.”
About the Artist
Edwin Ushiro’s work resonates with the echoes of his boyhood in the “slow town” of Wailuku on the Hawaiian island of Maui. In his paintings, he recalls the sun-struck days of youth, when the world was fresh and magical, but also explores the eerie folklore indigenous to dark country roads and the boundless depths of the childhood imagination. While structuring his work around the narrative tradition of “talk story” native to the Hawaiian islands, he interweaves the uncanny obake tales of his Japanese heritage. Working in a unique mixed media technique which involves laboring in ink and acrylic over sheets of Lucite printed with assemblages of his more traditional drawings and paintings, he creates reflections on the past that are luminous and nostalgic, like cherished memories burnished by the passage of time.
After earning a BFA with Honors in Illustration from Art Center College of Design, he worked in the entertainment industry as a storyboard artist, concept designer and visual consultant. He has exhibited in venues worldwide, including Villa Bottini in Italy, Grand Palais in France, the Museum of Kyoto, the Honolulu Museum of Art, and the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. A monograph of his work entitled Edwin Ushiro: Gathering Whispers was published by Zero+ Publishing in the United States and Diagon Alley in China. He lives and works between Los Angeles and Maui.
About Through the Eyes of Artists
In the tradition of celebrating transportation through colorful travel destination posters, Metro Art commissions a diverse range of Los Angeles artists to create original artworks for the Through the Eyes of Artists poster series. Established in 2003, the posters are displayed onboard Metro trains and buses.
View other works in the series.
Display year: 2025