According to Japanese legend, if a koi succeeds in swimming upstream and climbing the falls at a point called Dragon Gate on the Yellow River, it will be transformed into a dragon. The koi fish is also known as the Japanese Dragon Fish, a fact unknown to me until after I had entitled this piece Free As The Air, after the dragonfly. A coincidental moment!
My own “Dragon Gate” was to reach this point of lightness that Koi fish seem to embody with their hypnotic fluidity. My second goal was to translate the amazing luminosity the fish carries all over their scales.
I went for a choice of iridescent glass tiles, gold and silver tiles.