Art is just the ticket

ARTIST Nina Boesch’s ten-year labour of love has finally paid off for her.

The German designer, now based in Manhattan, spent a decade collecting discarded Metro tickets around her adopted city, and using them to replicate iconic New York images.

Among the subjects she chose to emulate were photographs of Woody Allen and Audrey Hepburn and views of well-known landmarks like the Brooklyn Bridge and, of course, a New York subway train.

Her collages, drawing from the blue, black and gold of the Metro card’s colour scheme, have become collectors’ items.

She came across the idea almost by accident. Staying with a host family in New Jersey, she wanted to give them a unique, but inexpensive, gift in return for their hospitality.

She already had a sizeable collection of Metro cards, having admired their shape and design when she started taking the subway. She made a collage of a map of the US and when she presented it to them, they encouraged her to make more.

Now friends help collect the discarded tickets for her, too, and one friend presents them to her in a big box every Christmas.

Exhibiting her pieces around neighbourhood galleries in Manhattan, she has built up a steady following for her images, which can take up to 80 hours each to complete.