Walk into the Locust Projects space and it looks like something has smashed through the walls of a South Beach hotel — okay, not something, but what we all know and fear, a hurricane. The installation from New Yorker Valerie Hegarty, “Break-Through Miami,” is at first glance

as literal as the title. And the destruction and the location are very site specific; this couldn’t be anyplace USA.

The most dramatic initial impression comes from the huge hole in the wall, behind which a classic portrait of Miami Beach is revealed, with palm trees and beach guard house and turquoise ocean. The plaster on the interior wall is ripped back, exposing the bricks underneath, all in a gripping tromp l’oeil. The most damaged corner of this room is dripping with mold and guck, the pastel-colored tiles on the floor are desecrated, in the middle of which a giant puddle has formed. Some seaside birds have apparently moved in, and on a blank white wall across the room, a palm tree has broken through. The only thing missing is the smell of tropical rot that we all know would permeate such a scene.

It is an illusion of course, making the installation more than meets the initial eye. This is Locust Projects after all. The peeling walls are crafted from foam boards and paper (the artist hasn’t literally damaged or violated the infrastructure of the space at all); the exposed bricks, the mildew, the water all expertly painted; the postcard-perfect view of the beach a photograph.

This is the artist’s oeuvre, to depict the process of destruction and transformation while also alluding to traditional landscape painting. In terms of the colors and the scale there is nothing inherently wrong with this picture — except that it couldn’t exist.

In contrast to the destructive force of the storm that ripped through this universe, the installation is soft and fragile. Maybe it’s because of our particular southern palette, or the non-aggressive materials that the artist has used, but the powerful wind has died down in here and what is left is a strangely lovely, quiet, and sickly scene. It’s also more than a little jarring to see that pelicans may be the next residents of your home after the big one hits.

Check out the scene yourself tonight, when Locust plays host to a talk from poet John D’Agata, part  of the University of Wynwood Visiting Poets Series funded by the Knight Foundation. D’Agata will read from his book “About a Mountain,” a lyric investigation of Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dumping and other difficult topics of our time.

“Break-Through Miami” through Oct. 16; reading by John D’Agata, Sept. 24 at 7:00 p.m., at Locust Projects, 155 N.E. 38th St.; 305-576-8570; www.locustprojects.org.