Passage

Fragmented forms and bold geometric planes dominate "Passage," a mural by Brandon Gaia Marshall in Watertown, Massachusetts. The work presents interlocking human figures rendered in grayscale tones and fractured across the composition, their bodies interrupted by sweeping curves and angular shapes in deep navy blue, vibrant red, and mustard yellow. The cubist approach breaks the figures into discrete, overlapping segments, creating visual momentum that moves horizontally across the wall.

Marshall's use of color anchors the composition through strategic placement. Red and blue geometric forms—some sharp-edged, others organic—weave between and behind the figurative elements, while touches of ochre and cream punctuate the surface. The palette remains restrained and controlled, allowing the relationship between form and fragmentation to emerge clearly. Small details—a red flower cluster, defined eyes, a raised hand—provide focal points within the larger abstraction.

The mural commemorates Arshile Gorky and the Armenian Genocide of World War I, themes the artist explores through formal language rather than explicit representation. The work's horizontal scale and the way figures seem to press and pivot against one another create a sense of compression and movement, as if space itself is contested. Mounted beneath an overhang, the mural maintains visual coherence despite weathering and the constraints of its architectural setting.