Faculty Advisor

Janet Marcavage

Artist Statement

Inspired by the sprawl of the shipping yards that I saw each time I drove downtown, this series of woodblock prints overlays digitally altered photographs that were taken at or near the Port of Tacoma. The prints suggest the ubiquity of certain iconic images we see at the Port: massive container ships loaded full, huge steel beams, container lifts, and bridges. We see them against the same backdrops, as well: waterways, railroad tracks, and industrial machinery, occasionally with Mount Rainier looming largely in the background. There is a sprawl to the city of Tacoma that has nothing to do with high-rise skylines or swaths of residential neighborhoods. Hints of it are found looking out towards the north, in the pillows of steam that puff upward from stacks just beyond Dock Street. Rounding the peak of N. 30th Street, it unfolds as the road tilts steeply down: the expanse of the Port of Tacoma, quiet despite its organizational crowdedness, an island of serried steel infrastructure. I fell in love with this part of Tacoma four years ago. In my experience, it is rare to find industrial landscapes situated in the center of such natural beauty, with massive machinery offset by sparkling water and isles of evergreens. It is captivating in the way that each entity makes the other stand out. In producing images representative of the Port and the waterfront, I seek to portray the iconic quality of its industry, these structural sights that have, and will continue to suspend me in moments of wonder. Inspired by the sprawl of the shipping yards that I saw each time I drove downtown, this series of woodblock prints overlays digitally altered photographs that were taken at or near the Port of Tacoma. The prints suggest the ubiquity of certain iconic images we see at the Port: massive container ships loaded full, huge steel beams, container lifts, and bridges. We see them against the same backdrops, as well: waterways, railroad tracks, and industrial machinery, occasionally with Mount Rainier looming largely in the background. There is a sprawl to the city of Tacoma that has nothing to do with high-rise skylines or swaths of residential neighborhoods. Hints of it are found looking out towards the north, in the pillows of steam that puff upward from stacks just beyond Dock Street. Rounding the peak of N. 30th Street, it unfolds as the road tilts steeply down: the expanse of the Port of Tacoma, quiet despite its organizational crowdedness, an island of serried steel infrastructure. I fell in love with this part of Tacoma four years ago. In my experience, it is rare to find industrial landscapes situated in the center of such natural beauty, with massive machinery offset by sparkling water and isles of evergreens. It is captivating in the way that each entity makes the other stand out. In producing images representative of the Port and the waterfront, I seek to portray the iconic quality of its industry, these structural sights that have, and will continue to suspend me in moments of wonder.

Preview

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Title of Work

Landscape

Medium

Woodcut and digital print

Dimensions

9x12"

Date of Completion

8-2016

Rights

This content was provided by the Collins Memorial Library of the University of Puget Sound. Terms of use can be found here on the Sound Ideas : http://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/copyright.html.