No matter what direction you’re heading on the 2 Line this spring, when you step off the train at Spring District Station, you’ll be greeted by a friendly but imposing creature twisting along the platform.
Artist Louie Gong, reflecting his Chinese and Nooksack heritage, created a cut metal mural of a dragon to span the eastbound platform wall toward Redmond, and on the other side, a phoenix, also cut metal and comprising a feathery motif common in Coast Salish culture, to span the westbound platform wall toward South Bellevue.
At congregating points and benches, passengers face the dragon and the phoenix head-on. They also see details inspired by Gong’s mixed heritage: huckleberry, a symbol of bounty and a nod to his Chinese grandfather, and a hummingbird, a harbinger of good news from his Nooksack grandmother.
He said he had a vision of passengers coming through the station on a moving train and seeing the bigger picture of the dragon and phoenix as they passed through.
“There’s some twisting and turning. I wanted it to look like there’s some movement,” he said. “Passengers can fill in the gaps of the dragon as the phoenix as they’re moving through the station. It mimics old paintings, where clouds cover parts of the dragon, whereas here it’s signs, fire extinguishers and hallways.”
Gong is a self-taught artist who was raised by his grandparents in the Nooksack tribal community. He was the first member of his family to graduate from college, and after working in higher education, he began customizing and selling hand-drawn Vans shoes. He later founded the company Eighth Generation, a Seattle-based art and lifestyle brand where 100 percent of the products are Native-designed.
In 2016, Gong was chosen to create the artwork at Spring District Station by selection panel members from University of Washington, Bellevue Arts Commission, Wright Runstad & Company, Sound Transit, and the Puget Sound arts community.
Gong said the artwork at Spring District Station was an opportunity for Coast Salish people to put their thumbprint on the region’s infrastructure.
“I know how important representation is in infrastructure for humans who are all having a cultural experience,” he said. “If you’re a white American, you’re having your identity validated constantly. Everyone else, those experiences are more rare. If you’re a Coast Salish person, at the time of the project, the opportunities were almost nil. People like me are not used to seeing their identity in infrastructure.”
As a person integrating native and Chinese themes, Gong also said he felt responsibility and pressure to ensure his large-scale visual statement told a true visual story in spaces where true stories haven’t been told.
“It’s nothing that’s on paper or articulated to me, but it’s something I understand,” he said.
You can see Gong’s artwork in person at the new Spring District Station when it opens on April 27 as part of the 2 Line between South Bellevue and Redmond Technology Stations.
Learn more about the 2 Line stations with our interactive map.
And there's even more art to explore on the Eastside! Here's a preview:
Modeled on the artist’s own hands, three enormous carved copies push their boulders together, highlighting themes of interdependence, collaboration, and physical labor. Redmond Technology Station
Based on the Apollonian gasket, a mathematical algorithm that generates a pattern that looks like circles nested within circles, this work is an apt metaphor for commuting—a recurring daily journey. Redmond Technology Station
Redmond’s forests are depicted and hand-painted in a palette of green phosphorescent monitors, with marks evoking low-resolution graphics of early computers. Overlake Village Station
Riders are encouraged to lounge on these colorful, organically-shaped concrete sculptures—whose form and color animate the plaza area—as they wait for the train or their rides home. Overlake Village Station
Inspired by the light rail lines that now traverse our region, a delicate undulating line defines the station platform’s stainless steel guardrails. BelRed Station
An x-shaped column of mirrored surfaces reflects the sky and station surroundings, responding to the color of the sky and changing light over the course of a day. Wilburton Station
A unique circular lightbox structure, the Cyclorama hangs from the ceiling at the main entrance of the Bellevue Downtown Station and will showcase a 360-degree view of artworks by different artists. This design is by Tiffany Hammonds.
Natural patterns and an interest in light unite different works by Paul and Marina Marioni in glass, terrazzo, and tile located throughout the station. Other art pieces include "WOVEN LIGHT," "LIGHT RAIN" and "RIPPLES." Bellevue Downtown Station
Mercer Slough serves as inspiration for this work, whose garage elements evoke natural rhythms such as grass waving in the wind and dappled light moving through willow trees and reeds. South Bellevue Station
Composed of a repeating pattern of abstracted images, the artwork is layered and rotated to create a continuous band whose changes reflect the Mercer Slough’s seasonal colors. South Bellevue Station
