Partners in both life and art, Wade Jeffree and Leta Sobierajski first matched on OK Cupid. Their creative chemistry was instant. By 2016, they had opened a joint studio called Wade and Leta, turning collaboration into a full-time practice. But for their latest piece, Reflection Point on view at Rockefeller Center’s Center Plaza, the duo opened the process to a third influence: Whisk, Google’s generative AI tool. Its presence disrupted, and ultimately redefined, the rhythm of their usual creative process.
“As a creative duo who spend 99.9 percent of our time together, we have an intuitive understanding of each other’s processes,” Wade and Leta told AN. “This collaboration invited a third voice into that dynamic: a new partner who could disrupt our rhythm just enough to spark fresh modes of ideation and open up unexpected creative pathways.”
Whisk, an AI image-generation tool developed by Google, allows users to create visuals by combining elements from uploaded images and text prompts. For Wade and Leta, it became a way to experiment with presenting ideas to each other differently, occasionally generating unexpected suggestions like replacing their usual color palette with mirrored surfaces.
Renz + Oei, built Reflection Point, an installation divided into four “portals,” each lined with shapes that can be spun to reveal either a vibrant color or a mirrored surface. From afar, the bright hues—peach, teal, lavender—stand in striking contrast to Rockefeller Center’s austere stone architecture. Color shapes both movement and emotion. For Reflection Point, the artists deployed nine complementary hues across 18 walls in unique pairings, ensuring no combination repeats. Up close, the sculpture reflects the city back at itself, incorporating visitors into the artwork.
The mirror element, now central to Reflection Point’s visual experience, was born from one such “misinterpretation.” The artists had prompted Whisk to explore bold color combinations, but the tool responded with mirrored surfaces instead.
“It was an interesting moment because the result was unexpected,” Wade and Leta said. “It’s a great reminder that introducing something new into your process can lead to surprising outcomes. We can sketch, jump on the computer, and iterate endlessly, but the most exciting ideas often come from sparks we don’t plan for.”
Rather than discard the suggestion, they leaned in. The use of mirrors became a metaphor for the viewer’s role in the artwork, inviting passersby to see themselves reflected within the piece.
“Sculpture, for us, lives in conversation with space,” Wade and Leta explained. “Space is what defines its presence, and its meaning becomes revealed as we move within it. The viewer is not separate, but they are part of the work—sculpture shifts because we do.”
The placement of Reflection Point at Rockefeller Plaza carries special meaning for the artists, who’ve lived in New York for over 15 years.
“We’ve walked past Rockefeller Center countless times, always inspired by its scale, history, and the energy it holds at the heart of the city,” Wade and Leta said. “To now have our work situated in such an iconic and public space feels deeply personal. It marks a milestone not just in our practice, but in our relationship with the city itself.”
And it’s only the beginning. The project, the duo’s “most publicly accessible work” to date, marks what they see as a new chapter in their creative evolution.
“It reminded us that no matter how thoroughly we plan, the public will always bring their own interpretations, movements, and meanings to a piece,” Wade and Leta said. “This experience has expanded how we approach design—not just as a visual or spatial language, but as an active conversation with the people who encounter it.”
Reflection Point is on view at Rockefeller Plaza until July 20.
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