Xavier Cortada, Aqualume (Doral, Florida), 2026
Aqualume
Commissioned by the City of Doral’s Art in Public Places Program, Aqualume is a series of eight large-scale murals by Xavier Cortada that transform the exterior walls of a commercial shopping center in Doral into a vibrant celebration of the microscopic life that sustains our planet.
The murals introduce color, movement, and environmental storytelling to the public space while inviting visitors to engage with the natural world in unexpected ways.
Inspired by the beauty and importance of diatoms, the microscopic algae responsible for producing a significant portion of the Earth’s oxygen, each mural features bold abstract forms and luminous color palettes that evoke life beneath the water’s surface. Together, the murals create a cohesive visual experience that enlivens the shopping center and encourages curiosity about the ecosystems that make life possible.
One mural panel has a QR code installation that invites visitors to learn more about diatoms and their essential role in our planet’s health, extending the artwork beyond its painted surface into an interactive educational experience.
Through Aqualume, Cortada transforms an everyday destination into a place for discovery, reminding viewers that even the smallest organisms can have an extraordinary impact on the world around us.
Artist's Statement
Water is everything. In South Florida, it falls as sixty inches of rain each year. It flows beneath us in the aquifer, surrounds us in the Everglades and Biscayne Bay, and shapes the land all the way to Florida Bay. Our lives are inseparable from the natural rhythms that move below and around us. Drifting in this water, too small to see but vital to life, are diatoms—microscopic organisms that capture sunlight and generate a third of the oxygen we breathe. With every breath we take, we are connected to the water, to the light, to them.
“Aqualume” celebrates these unseen forces. Through eight bold, geometric murals, diatom shapes are enlarged and illuminated with vibrant color. Painted across the built environment, they echo the organic patterns of our landscape: fluid, alive, and full of light. In revealing what is invisible, the work invites us to see how water not only supports life, but also helps create the air we breathe.