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New art installation unveiled at Long Island City waterfront

Leonard Usachi’s “Peace Like a River” at Hunters Point South Park. Photo: Leonard Ursachi

Oct. 31, 2024 By Shane O’Brien

A new multi-sculptural installation exploring concepts of change and environmental responsibility has been installed at Hunters Point South Park on the Long Island City waterfront.

Leonard Ursachi’s “Peace Like a River” was unveiled in Hunters Point South Park on Saturday, Oct. 26, and will remain in the waterfront park for exactly six months until April 26 next year.

The piece features identical eight-foot-tall sculptures cast in concrete from a mold made of driftwood found in the East River. The sculptures are presented in a variety of different colors.

Ursachi, who arrived in the US in the 1980s after leaving his native Romania in his 20s, said he has worked in a number of different waterfront art studios in Brooklyn since arriving in New York, adding that he was inspired by the piece of driftwood he found floating in the East River.

He said he was struck by similarities between the driftwood’s journey down the East River and subsequent rebirth as an art installation and his own journey as an artist in New York City.

“It’s interesting for me because it does represent me,” Ursachi said. “It does represent my existence here, my years of transformation and drifting and rebirth.”

Each piece of driftwood is painted using car paint, a deliberate decision by Ursachi to contrast environmental issues with American car culture. Each color in the sculpture, meanwhile, represents the four seasons.

He said the piece depicts a tree that has died and been reborn in “urban color,” reflecting change and growth but also directly contrasting nature with city life and car culture.

“This, to me, is profound because it relates to car culture and to our environmental responsibility,” Ursachi said. “We have to live with what we have, but we have to be careful and not discard everything.”

Photo: Leonard Ursachi.

Ursachi said he deliberately placed the piece in Hunters Point South Park because the LIC waterfront park has undergone several changes over the years. It is also on the forefront of the fight against climate change, with several resiliency measures implemented in both Hunters Point South Park and Gantry Plaza State Park to protect against flooding and help promote the ecological well-being of the waterfront.

Ursachi’s piece will remain on the LIC waterfront until April, but depending on local reaction to the project, the installation could be extended by six more months. Ursachi then hopes to find a permanent home for the project, which he describes as one of the best of his career.

“I would like to relocate it. I don’t want to lose it,” Ursachi said. “I think the shores (of Brooklyn), where I have been for the last 40 years, would be great.”