Monumental sculpture honours women's service in US Coast Guard during Second World War

""I was inspired by the history of monumental sculpture, like Olmec heads and images of the Statue of Liberty, where you see just a piece of the head," says the French-born artist, who works between New York and Paris. The interaction between the work and its garden is a collaboration with the Miami-based landscape architect Raymond Jungles. "There is something very poetic in the symbol of water and with the Coast Guard," Nourry says."

""The 21.3ft piece will be unveiled on 30 October and is Nourry's first public art project in the US. Titled Reflection, it is the centrepiece of the new waterfront Ocean Terrace Park in the North Beach neighbourhood and replaces a former parking lot. Nourry decided to honour Spars after learning about a nearby Coast Guard station. "It's very important for me that there is a local anchor," she says."

A 21.3ft sculpture titled Reflection is installed at Ocean Terrace Park in Miami Beach as the park's waterfront centerpiece, replacing a former parking lot. The work honors the US Coast Guard Women's Reserve (Spars), who staffed shore stations while men served at sea during the Second World War; the acronym derives from the motto Semper Paratus. The sculpture shows a half-face resting in water whose features are completed by its reflection and a mangrove tree sprouting from the side. French-born artist Prune Nourry conceived the piece, influenced by monumental heads and images such as the Statue of Liberty. The project is a collaboration with landscape architect Raymond Jungles, is Nourry's first US public art project, and was anchored in local Coast Guard history through contact with Spars historian Donna Vojvodich.

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