The term “Riven” in the title refers to Jim Melchert’s signature practice of breaking and then reassembling his tiles. Riven/River was commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission in 2014 for the San Francisco International Airport (SFO); he created a fourteen-foot-long piece made from grey porcelain ceramic tile with red & blue glaze. Melchert considered the view of Earth from the air. He offered an interpretation of a view travelers might experience on their flight. The crooked path of a “river” of blue stripes intersects a field of red-striped tiles, much like the patterns seen in farmlands from the air.