American artist Spencer Finch (b. 1962) pursues the most elusive and ineffable of experiences through his work—from the changing water conditions of the Hudson River, in his New York High Line piece, to the color of a sunset outside a Monument Valley motel room, or from the afternoon breeze by Walden Pond to the shadows of passing clouds in the yard of Emily Dickinson’s home. Each embraces his passion for exploring light, time, and perception.

On June 20, the artist will unveil a new, site-specific, large-scale installation at the Morgan Library & Museum inspired by its great collection of medieval Books of Hours—beautiful, hand-painted works that served as personal prayer books for different times of the day and different periods of the year. Taking advantage of the Morgan’s four-story, glass-enclosed Gilbert Court, Finch will apply films of color to the windows and hang additional glass panes in the center of the Court to create a kind of calendar based on the movement of the sun. “Just as an actual Book of Hours is both functional and decorative,” the artist says, “the installation will function as a calendar recording the sun’s hourly and seasonal changes and also as a purely visual spectacle of light and reflection and color.”