A Cut Above – Transfer Corridor, Times Square Subway Station, New York, New York

"Times Square 35 Times" consists of 35 ceramic sculptures, which captures the vibrant Times Square atmosphere through several themes: fashion, performing arts and street life. The sculptures are permanently installed in light boxes.

The glazed ceramic panels grace the transfer corridor between the 1/2/3 station and the Shuttle. The commission was received in 1992 and the first phase of the work finally installed 2004-2005. The artist, Toby Buonagurio, is a lifetime resident of New York City and a professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Buonagurio is best known for her colourful, offbeat, tongue-in-cheek, ceramic sculptures. Her ability to design, manipulate and glaze, a liquid substance used to colour or coat a pottery piece, comes from her 40 years of experience with the medium. She begins her process of creating a sculpture by sketching several images of what the piece will look like. She then makes the ceramic by firing clay, a two-day process. Buonagurio uses test tiles to test how many layers of glaze are needed to obtain a certain colour. "Each colour requires different coats of glaze. The glaze has to be done exactly because if you put the wrong number of layers, you won’t get the solid opaque colour." Once a piece is glazed it must be fired. However, if the wrong number of layers are used, the piece must be restarted.