Artwork copyright Lockwood Dennis. Photo courtesy of the artist.

La Push, 1986

Lockwood Dennis
(American, born 1937, died 2012)

Location: Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

La Push is a woodblock print created by artist Dennis Lockwood. The title and imagery refer to the town of La Push, located on Washington's northwest Pacific coast. He created the print based on sketches he made of the town. He notes that the imagery shows "the main street through town, the fishing packing plants, a fisherman, and rising from the sea beyond, Little James Island." He printed this artwork during a residency at the Centrum Foundation in Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula, in Northwestern Washington.

Dennis typically made sketches at the site that he would later transfer onto woodblocks, carving one for each color that you see in the final print. Each woodblock was inked and printed by hand, in a layered process. This print includes three colors.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Prosser School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Northwest artist Lockwood Dennis (1937-2012) was known for his body of colorful woodcut prints. His art often depicted industrial landmarks and landscapes that have a tension between man-made and natural elements. Over his forty-five-year career, Dennis drew inspiration from varied traditions such as German Expressionist prints, vintage cast-metal toys, Japanese woodblock prints, comic art, and WPA era design from the late 1930s.