Art

Hilma’s Ghost Mosaic Casts a Spell on Grand Central

Feminist duo Hilma’s Ghost debuts a tarot-charged mosaic in Grand Central Madison, turning your 7-train dash into a mystical commute. Discover the magic behind the mural.

Por: Angela Leon Cervera May 20, 2025

Hilma’s Ghost mosaic — Hilma's Ghost. Abstract Futures. Photo: @mtaartsdesign

The 7-train’s 42nd-Street portal was always the drabbest cousin of Grand Central—until Hilma’s Ghost crash-landed with Abstract Futures, a 600-square-foot Hilma’s Ghost mosaic that glows like stained-glass psychedelia.

One minute you’re sprinting for Queens; the next you’re whisper-chanting to a wall of tarot-bright diamonds. Blame artists Dannielle Tegeder and Sharmistha Ray, who invoked their spiritual muse, Swedish abstraction pioneer Hilma af Klint, to transform a commuter choke-point into a Beaux-Arts coven.

What Exactly Is This Spellbound Subway Portal?

Abstract Futures is a 12-panel glass-and-gold mosaic commissioned by MTA Arts & Design and fabricated by Miotto Mosaic Art Studios. Each panel riffs on a Major Arcana archetype—The Fool, The Magician, The Star—rendered as ultra-precise geometry: concentric suns, radiating beams, orb-and-diamond grids. Tegeder and Ray call it “color magic in motion.” The result? A daily heroine’s journey hidden inside your MetroCard swipe.

Why Are Commuters Whispering Into the Wall?

Is it art or witchcraft? Both. Hilma’s Ghost opened the mural with a quiet ritual, chanting intentions so the portals “stay charged.” They invite passers-by to do the same. Soft chanting in a subway? Welcome to New York’s latest wellness trend.

But will my train be late? The 7 still runs on its own cosmic schedule; the mural just makes the wait feel mythic.

How Did Two Lockdown Witches Conjure a Permanent Public Piece?

The duo met in 2020 Zoom limbo, bonding over af Klint’s spiritually fueled abstraction. They launched Hilma’s Ghost at the Armory Show 2021 with a 78-painting tarot deck and live psychic readings.

Fast-forward: the MTA offered them a cavernous wall and carte blanche. Their answer? A Hilma’s Ghost mosaic that proves the patriarchy never saw witches coming—especially not with MTA funding.

Alongside subway sorcery, the pair host “Cleopatra’s Pearl” dinners with artist Eve Biddle, merging ceramic candle magic, feminist guest roles, and pearl-dissolving lore in an East Village studio once occupied by Biddle’s mother, sculptor Mary Ann Unger. If you score an invite, expect Hecate place cards and oak-smoked veg served on plates Biddle threw herself.

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Will This Magic Travel Beyond Manhattan?

While commuters absorb daily doses of mysticism, Hilma’s Ghost is staging “La hora de la estrella” at Mexico City’s Galería RGR (through May 31). Inside an altar of neon triangles and oracular symbols, new paintings extend the subway mural’s chromatic spell. Global tour next? The artists hint at plans for VR tarot rooms and an oracle-bot that texts cosmic prompts at rush hour.

New York is a city of hidden altars—rooftop hives, speakeasy saunas, black-market bagel labs—but few rival a tarot mural humming beneath Grand Central.

The Hilma’s Ghost mosaic merges 1920s Beaux-Arts glamour with 2025 digital mysticism, inviting every rushed commuter to pause, inhale gold-flecked geometry, and exhale a spell. Next time you barrel toward Times Square, tilt your gaze.

Those diamonds aren’t just decoration; they’re reminders that the mundane commute masks infinite portals—if you dare whisper into the wall.