Chicago, Illinois-based artist Jim Bachor has a different view of potholes compared to most people. Instead of an annoying hole in the road, he considers them as an opportunity to get creative.
Bachor is on a mission to “fix” potholes by turning them into works of art. He fills the cracks and holes in the road surface with colorful pieces of stone and/or glass to create eye-catching mosaics.
According to Bachor, his passion for mosaics began when he was volunteering at an archeological site in Pompeii, Italy. He was fascinated with the way mosaics captured the everyday life of ancient civilizations and survived thousands of years without significant change.
After learning the technique of mosaics, Bachor started creating his own, using the potholes in Chicago as canvas. He wanted them to “speak of modern things in an ancient way,” focusing on an array of different subjects like celebrities, animals, everyday objects, and more.
“My work locks into mortar unexpected concepts drawn from the present. By harnessing and exploiting the limitations of this indestructible technique, my work surprises the viewer while challenging long-held notions of what a mosaic should be,” Bachor explains in an artist statement shared on his website.
Since creating his first “pothole mosaic” in 2013, Bachor went on to make hundreds more. Most of them can be seen in Chicago, although passersby in other American cities like New York City and in countries like Finland and Italy can enjoy his works as well.
Check out more of Bachor’s unique mosaics below.
