Mosaic artist builds stability in public spaces by ‘going to pieces’

EVANSTON, Ill. (WGN) — At the Evanston Artmakers Outpost, Anna Soltys is at a breaking point.

It’s the point at which making a mosaic requires shattering, snapping, cracking, and clipping of stone tile using a pair of pliers.

“It is a very therapeutic process,” Soltys said. It requires power and patience. “So intense and so grueling. Well, it sort of works like it’s a puzzle, right?”

We joined her in the studio one afternoon as she placed the carefully cut pieces of tile over a life-sized sketch of her next installation. 

“The whole idea is you’re trying to create your own puzzle, and make it look super intentional as if you’ve just sort of taken tile and broken it, and given the breaks a little space,” she said.

Soltys was born in Krakow, Poland, and as a young child moved from France to China before her family settled in Evanston. She graduated from Evanston Township High School, then studied art at Ball State University and Columbia College.

For the last 20 years, Soltys worked in mosaic art, transforming tiles into gleaming public art projects seen in Chicago and the suburbs, from Oak Park to Evanston.

Thematically, her works often reference nature.

“We live in this big city it’s like a concrete jungle,” she said. “How can we create these moments of natural beauty, if you will, in that space.”

The installations are more like physical labor than fine art.

“I mean, it’s like construction work, right?” Soltys said.

She uses tiles imported from Italy. They’re designed to withstand the weather—Chicago’s extreme heat and bitter cold.

Through the seasons, her mosaics are public and permanent.

“It’s very gratifying,” Soltys said. “There’s this funny feeling that seeing something you created is going to be there permanently. There’s a sculpture in Evanston. I’ll drive by it randomly sometimes, like, ‘Oh my God. I did that.’”