Celestial motifs and cosmological geometries strewn across a prismatic landscape comprise “Abstract Futures” (2025), the newest public artwork to grace the walls of the New York City subway system. Designed by the feminist art collective Hilma’s Ghost, the 600-square-foot glass mosaic mural now greets transit riders between the turnstiles and escalators at the 42nd Street entrance to the 7 train in Manhattan’s Grand Central Station after being installed earlier this month.
The project was commissioned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) Arts and Design program through the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs’s four-decade-old Percent for Art initiative, which has brought site-specific works of more than 400 artists into the city’s subways, buses, commuter rail stations, and other transit areas. On May 6, the mosaic will be spotlighted in a formal dedication ceremony.
“Abstract Futures” is divided into three sections, ordered left to right, that fuse reinterpreted tarot archetypes with classic heroic tales to highlight the shared transformations experienced by commuters on their individual journeys.
The first segment of the mosaic begins with the story of “The Fool,” a tarot card signifying new beginnings and opportunity. Awash with red, orange, and pink hues, the figurative mural follows the quest of a risk-taking protagonist in search of a greater unknown destination, according to press materials from the MTA. The next panel is laden with earth-toned tiles as the fool grapples with challenges and spiritual evolution, represented by the symbol for the “Wheel of Fortune” tarot archetype in the center. Situated closer to the subway turnstiles, the final section of the mosaic traces a spiritual metamorphosis in which the main character discovers a deepened understanding of themself. This change is depicted across a blue and purple sky that leads into a blood-orange sunrise, ending with a line of abstract tarot wands, symbolizing the end before a cycle begins again.
Brooklyn-based artists Sharmistha Ray and Dannielle Tegeder, the founding duo of Hilma’s Ghost, told Hyperallergic that the artwork was developed over two years and executed in close collaboration with master mosaic fabricator Stephen Miotto, who has been working with the MTA since the 1980s. It shares the same name as their first visual art project, which consisted of a limited-edition abstract tarot deck, building on the collective’s commitment to reimagining historically under-recognized spiritual practices and gendered cultural narratives.
Inspired by the work of Swedish Theosophist artist Hilma af Klint, Hilma’s Ghost has engaged in a variety of art projects since its founding in 2020. Beyond tarot decks, the collective has held performances; created philosophical games and ritualistic installations; made drawings, paintings, and artist books; and taught workshops.
Ray and Tegeder described their new mural as “both a celebration and a meditation on the city’s perpetual cycles of arrival, growth, and renewal honoring New York’s resilience, ambition, and the shared sense of collective belonging.”
“Our intention is to create a contemplative space that centers inclusivity, connection, and healing,” the pair added.
