Artwork copyright Jo Hockenhull. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Jo Hockenhull. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission.

The Foolish Conceit of Human Control, 1988

Jo Hockenhull
American (born 1942)

Location: Aspire Middle School for the Performing Arts, Lacey

About the Artwork

The Foolish Conceit of Human Control is part of artist Jo Hockenhull's "Past, Present, Future" series. The series explores the tension between natural evolution and human technology. Describing this piece, she notes, "time and space are condensed to bring together images of galaxies, trilobites, plenaria, comets and plant fossils millions of years old. This is a reflection of what we experience every day in modern society -- this bombardment of seemingly unconnected images and information."

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with North Thurston Public Schools.

About the Artist

Jo Hockenhull is a painter, printmaker, illustrator, and educator. She states that her work "explores connections that human beings seem to need with the past, the future and the natural world."
Hockenhull joined the faculty of Washington State University in Pullman, Eastern Washington, in 1972. She started the printmaking program in the Fine Arts Department that year, and later headed the Women's Studies program (1986-1996). She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Knox College in Illinois in 1963 and her Master of Arts degree from the University of Iowa in 1966. She now lives in Oregon.