I created "Portals" as a bridge between ancient hand-poured colored sand techniques and the immersive technology of the abstract "Metaverse." This journey invites you to travel through time and space to the unknown.

I employed a hands-on approach to animate the original photograph of a sand painting made at Union Square in New York City. I repeatedly altered the abstract mirror effects by hand and captured hundreds of stills to bring motion to the image.

I invite you to jump through the portal and help bridge the two worlds in which we exist. There may be something that awaits us on the other side .

Joe Mangrum’s sand paintings and multiple medium installations explore issues of the urban grid, environmentalism and its effects on the collective psyche. He has created a series of over a thousand intricate sand paintings in public and private spaces as well as a body of permanent sand paintings on canvas and carved wood. He has also created large scale, multi-material installations in large spaces. His work is inspired by ancient traditions and synced up with a rhythm of urban free-style animation, combined with bright “Pop Art” colors. His paintings are influenced by an abundant world of undersea creatures, botanicals and diverse forms of cross-cultural metaphors with a mash up of personal symbols. His technique with sand employs a graffiti like parallel of close to the ground sharp lines to a wide “spray” from higher up of diffused effects in alternating layers. Mangrum is based in New York City and has traveled with his work internationally.

©2023 Joe Mangrum