Documented artwork / illuminated figurative sculpture

Tara Mechani

A recycled-metal female figure joins imagery of the Buddha Tara with a futuristic robot. A chandelier built into the torso provides a warm internal glow.

Saves on this device.

Already working on a project?

Adds directly to your existing saved project and keeps its brief intact.

Documented work. Current availability, ownership and installation requirements must be confirmed with the artist.

See the documented project and images

Image: jresortreno.com ↗

At a glance

Year / version: 2017
Materials: recycled machine parts, stainless steel, copper, brass, glass, cable, chain
Documented setting: unknown
Dimensions: Artist page: 14 feet sculpture plus 3-foot metal pedestal, 17 feet total
Dimensions apply to: The configuration explicitly described on the artist’s project page; other published accounts and proposals give differing sculpture heights, so a current technical drawing is required.
Availability: Unconfirmed

Places & versions

Installation history

Historical presentations. A past installation does not establish the current location or suitability for a new site.

Date not documented
J Resort, 4th Street and Arlington Avenue, Reno, Nevada
Site
4th Street and Arlington Avenue
Installation details checked 2026-10-17.
Installation source

From a reference to your project

Keep the idea.
Shape the brief.

Save this reference to your shortlist while you explore. Review your selection, then carry the references you choose into a commissioning brief for your site, audience, timing and open questions.

Your shortlist is saved on this device. Saving a reference does not contact the artist or reserve a work. Participation, availability, price and site suitability need confirmation.

View shortlist Build brief from shortlist Discuss a project with this reference Compare installation considerations Open full planning workspace Use the project worksheet Suggest a correction or provide an artist update

Research notes for project planning

How this work was made and presented

Dana Albany’s account of Tara Mechani

Salvaged parts carry local history

Dana Albany connects Tara Mechani’s figure to both Buddhist imagery and the robot Maria from Metropolis. Her account describes repurposed chandelier parts and machinery collected from San Francisco businesses, making the sculpture a carrier of material histories as well as a luminous figure. The production lesson concerns the specificity of salvage: its meaning depends on where components came from and how they were transformed. A host could develop interpretation around those relationships while asking what documentation is needed to maintain the assembled materials and lighting.

Dana Albany — Tara Mechani ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10

For your project brief

Which component histories and maintenance records should travel with the sculpture?

Big Art Partners planning prompt

Artist portfolio documenting successive public placements

Temporary placements form a distinct exhibition history

Albany’s portfolio, included in a public proposal held by the City of Sebastopol, records Tara Mechani in San Jose’s Cesar Chavez Park, then in San Francisco’s Patricia’s Green through the Arts Commission, and later in Reno. The same portfolio distinguishes the figure from its pedestal and platform. These details are useful when comparing site photographs: repeated exhibition does not establish a single unchanging ground arrangement. A host should identify which supporting elements belong to a proposed presentation and document the relevant version before developing a site layout.

Dana Albany portfolio in a City of Sebastopol proposal ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10

For your project brief

Which pedestal and platform configuration belongs to the proposed placement?

Big Art Partners planning prompt

Light art installations ↗