Potomac River Shen Series at Union Station: A Panorama of Ecological Landscapes
Photo Credit: David Plakke
At Washington, DC’s Union Station Amtrak railway waiting area, you'll come across a series of murals spanning the upper walls from Gate A through L. The murals entitled The Potomac Shen River Series, were created by local artist Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann. They’re the second installation of Art at Amtrak at Union Station, part of Amtrak's initiative to revitalize the station and enhance the travel experience for its visitors.
For Mann, Union Station is more than a transit hub—it's a beautiful place full of vibrant energy. She relished the opportunity to create meaningful art in public spaces. Mann's installation, rendered on vinyl, consists of three murals that vividly depict the Potomac River's landscape teeming with botanical and animal life. Created initially with a poured ink technique on paper in the artist's studio, the painting was photographed and then digitally manipulated to cover the station's upper walls.
The Potomac Shen River Series follows the inaugural installation, A Great Public Walk, by multidisciplinary artist Tim Doud. Doud's work reflected and celebrated the myriad of clothing styles, patterns, and logos Union Station visitors wear. In contrast to Doud’s emphasis on the human aspect, Mann's installation shifts focus to the natural world, specifically highlighting the Potomac River. It’s a local landmark that oftentimes goes unnoticed despite its familiarity.
In our interview, I asked Mann what motivated her to select the Potomac River as the mural’s subject. Mann wanted to shift perceptions about the river, noting, “The river, for people, has a reputation as something dirty and full of trash. And it's so much more”. She views the river as the lifeblood of the district. The Potomac River is the sole water source for the District and Arlington while forming part of the border between D.C. and Maryland.
The Potomac River Shen Series showcases Mann’s passion for murals. The horizontal format perfectly portrays the expansive ecological landscape of the river. Unlike traditional landscapes, the murals unfold as viewers walk alongside them, revealing intricate details with each step. This interactive experience evokes the narrative progression found in Chinese scroll paintings. The murals' vastness also encourages piecemeal viewing, prompting commuters and station employees to discover new details with each passing glimpse. This multi-viewing experience, where close observation unlocks hidden details, mirrors the essence of Chinese landscape art.
The first mural, a massive 150 feet by 10 feet high, covers the space between Gates A and D. It features a densely packed cacophony of colors—yellow, red, blue, orange, red, and purple. At its center are two plain freshwater clams, their shells adorned with multi-colored vertical stripes. Long, swirling tentacles extend from their bodies, surrounded by native Potomac plants such as cypress, oak, water lily, and lotus.
Photo Credit: David Plakke
The landscape unfolds across a horizontal scroll, sweeping from left to right, creating an immersive experience. Abstracted forms of cloud rafts, evoking floating magical islands in Buddhist iconography, add an otherworldly dimension to the landscape. Intentionally placed shapes and intersecting lines add structure to the dynamic scene.
The clams at the mural’s center also reference the Clam Monsters known as ( 蜃 Shen) in Chinese folklore. Each clam monster is separated by a line running down the length of the mural, symbolizing a mirror. The landscapes mirror each other. Each world is simultaneously real and imaginary. Despite its intricate complexity, the composition achieves balance through repeated forms.
The second mural between Gates E and G is slightly shorter at 113 feet. It continues the core motif from the first mural but with some distinctions. The composition here is less densely packed, featuring four clam monsters with shells in shades of magenta and yellow. The plant life depicted includes water lettuce, pond lilies, lotuses, and cherry blossoms, with a more limited color palette of aquamarine and greenish-gray hues. Mann took a more subdued approach to this mural's composition, creating a different rhythm in the viewing experience.
The third mural, measuring about 99 feet, covers Gate H through L. It carries the subdued colors of green and gray punctuated with white space. This piece continues the visual narrative of the first two murals depicting water lilies, grasses, lotuses, maple, oak, and the clam monsters. This series of murals celebrates the ordinary organisms inhabiting the Potomac River by depicting animal and plant life within abstract forms.
Mann’s background significantly influenced the aesthetic of the murals. As a half-Taiwanese woman raised in various countries due to her father’s Foreign service career, she developed a fascination with juxtaposing disparate styles. This influence is evident in her murals, which combine decorative patterns, abstract forms, and iconography, creating a dissonance that adds an intriguing depth. The use of fantastical elements, such as the clam monsters, is rooted in her interest in Chinese Mythology.
Her early training in sumi ink painting, a traditional Chinese art brush technique, sparked an interest in landscapes and shaped her depiction of them. Her murals also reflect a fascination with the interplay of chance and control, inspired by abstract expressionist Helen Frankenthaler. Mann’s deliberate placement of lines echoes techniques used by painter Morris Louis.
Given the murals’ rich iconography, I wondered if transient visitors to the station might miss its intricate details. She shared that it was okay if visitors didn't understand the symbolism in the art piece. Her goal was for visitors to find a sense of serenity amidst the bombardment of commercial signs at the station and get transported to other worlds they might not otherwise access.
The Potomac Shen River Series is on view at Union Station until September 2nd, 2024. Admission is free
Oluseyi Akinyode, a Day Eight arts writing fellow, grew up in the bustling city of Lagos and now calls DC home. She holds a B.S. in Finance from New York University and is a 2024 recipient of the HumanitiesDC grant.