Erik Gonzalez

Visual Puzzles

Erik Gonzalez created a series of back-lit images made of glass fresco and brushed aluminum that are placed in special frames showcasing unique composite images, historic photos and abstract images. The paintings appear to grow out of the shapes and lines in the original photographs. Smaller art panels and other landscape design elements display details from the paintings along the railings of the bridge. Gonzalez acquired old photos and drawings of the area and surrounding neighborhoods. Together they appear as puzzle pieces that show the Crosscut Canal from a new perspective.

Artist Erik Gonzales conceived of Visual Puzzles as a series of artworks that recognize the significance of the Crosscut Canal to Scottsdale and illuminate an artist’s perspective on the canal’s history. The antiqued images within the art panels comprise several layers of shapes, textures and earthen-tone colors and are a combination of historic aerial photographs of the location and original abstract forms. In the black-and-white imagery of the artworks, large rectangular and round shapes are from aerial views of the Crosscut Hydro Plant. The blueprints are reproductions that were used by engineers and contractors during construction of the canal.