Land
of Tribute

The Native American Indians referred to Long Island as “Paumonock” meaning “Land of Tribute.” Not only was it a great location for fishing, in its shape they saw the image of a fish.

Drawing on the symbolism of the Native American Indians I have built the platform of this sculpture to represent a fish. Its mouth is Jamaica Bay and Orient and Montauk Points tip its tail, forming the two peninsulas. The platform grounds the sculpture in history.

The sculpture leads upward from this point of history to portray the island industrializing.  Long Island Sound to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south have always provided ample fishing, but it wasn’t until the island was connected to the mainland by bridges that it developed an industrial economy. From its fish shaped platform, the sculpture extends upward following the lines of those bridges.

Long Island has grown from a land of fishing ports to the industrialized land it is today. “Land of Tribute” pays homage to this great history.

Land of Tribute was exhibited as part of a group show in the Jeanie Tengelsen Gallery in Dix Hills, NY in 2011.