From the artist:  “Shard Wall is a sculpture incorporating a fire element integral to the artwork concept.  It was designed to fuse with the industrial elements of the Hyatt architecture and rhyme with the strong silhouettes of the surrounding column structure, which can all be seen from the street. It also serves to establish an intimate corner within the urban, loft-like space that creates a true communal space in a way that only fire can do. The marriage of the hearth and home is an ancient one. A hotel is a person’s home on the road where any sense of warmth, both physical and emotional, can provide an experience that is highly coveted and memorable. Fire becomes an immediate destination, a meeting spot, a place to eat drink and be merry, or a calm place to decompress. Everyone has their own personal relationship with fire, and it is an endless loop of mesmerizing, ethereal sculpture. It is difficult to leave.”  Shard Wall was commissioned as part of the hotel developer’s contribution to the City of Indianapolis’ Public Art for Neighborhoods program.

Elena Colombo is a classically trained sculptor & architectural designer who owns and operates COLOMBO CONSTRUCTION CORP, a design/build firm specializing in fire features, fire accessories, and custom site specific work: memorials, markers, water and wind features, and environmental sculpture. She creates work that extends architecture further into the landscape by creating forms which address our primal need for the elements earth, fire, water and wind; and that are at once ancient and modern; simple, and elegant. Colombo’s fire sculptures have been commissioned by the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, Pebble Beach Golf Resort, Paul Hobbs Winery, and numerous hotels, spas, and resorts.  She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.