Fabricated from mirror-finished stainless steel panels, painted steel, and fiberglass, the sculpture functions as an optical device that fragments and multiplies its surroundings. Hundreds of polished panels reflect viewers and environment while deliberate gaps between mirrors create moments of darkness, suggesting hidden elements of shared reality. The work creates a paradoxical experience where viewers simultaneously see themselves reflected and disappear into the cracks between mirrors.
Originally commissioned by Toronto and first shown at the Toronto Sculpture Garden in 2023, the work attracted over 1,000 participants during Nuit Blanche and became a focal point for community gathering. Its 2025 installation in Washington Square Park drew over 1.8 million viewers during its three-month run, receiving significant media coverage including NBC News and Time Out NY.
The sculpture draws from José Esteban Muñoz’s “Cruising Utopia,” which positions the disco ball as a beacon of queer possibility—something always in the becoming rather than the here and now. As curator Renata Azevedo Moreira writes: “To place a gleaming object that usually finds shelter in dark, enclosed, and loud spaces instead in the outdoors can be disconcerting. Yet Van Der Hout’s To Reflect Everything unapologetically does it all, its expansiveness not to be confused with invasiveness. The sculpture is a radical attempt to queer simple definitions, functions, actions, and values.”