Thomas McKean

Thomas McKean is an artist in Greenpoint who creates sculptures and collages from discarded MetroCard pieces, layering them into miniature architectural forms inspired by family stories and New York City history.

Twenty-five years ago, McKean was riding the subway and began wondering how many words he could make from the word MetroCard. That idle question became a practice. He has used cut-up bits of the cards to create hundreds of sculptures and collages, layering discarded cards into miniature architectures of the city he's never left. But the MetroCard collages aren't really about transit tokens. His art is a tribute to his family. He creates MetroCard collages inspired by family stories, including a relative tied to a historic Brooklyn Eagle strike. He's working on a children's book called "Sneaky Snail Crosses MetroTown" and a family history. He published a dozen books (mostly for children) before focusing on art. The work pursues a single question: how do you build a portrait of the city and the people who made it, one card at a time.