Convergence: Porous Futures
Convergence: Porous Futures, 2025
Steel, native plants, natural stones
Created for the Boston Public Art Triennial at the Charlestown Navy Yard Lot Lab, curated by Jasper Sanchez
Evelyn Rydz’s work emphasizes the interrelatedness of bodies of water, personal histories, consumer cycles, and climate change. In the hands of Rydz, water is a transcendent conduit for stories and connection.
Convergence: Porous Futures is a site-specific installation that explores the Boston Inner Harbor as a place of confluence. Situated near the meeting point of the Mystic and Charles Rivers, this project is shaped by their unique histories and aquatic characteristics as they merge and flow into global waters. A reflective sculpture, modeled after a storm drain, hovers over a living garden featuring bioswales shaped to mirror the geography of the two rivers. This design draws attention to the often-overlooked water infrastructure and its environmental impact amidst increasing weather extremes. Bioswales, channels designed to capture stormwater runoff known to degrade river ecosystems, are key to this integration. Below the sculpture, a climate-resilient garden of native plants thrives, acting as a natural filter for pollutants that enter shared water bodies. Convergence: Porous Futures illustrates the joining of local and global, the impact of the individual on the collective, and questions what it is we choose to preserve, both past and present.
Photo Credits: Rafael Medina / Caitlin Cunningham