Artwork copyright Jo Hockenhull. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2016.

Field Report: Conversations with the Moon, 2001

Jo Hockenhull
(American, born 1942)

Location: Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Painted to resemble a carved stone relief sculpture or a commemorative plaque, Field Report: Conversations with the Moon is a painting by Jo Hockenhull that constructs a symbolic narrative between bird and moon. She notes, "try to imagine the discussion between our 'free' alter ego, the bird, and this radiant heavenly body. Listen and try to understand. There will always be new questions."

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Lower Columbia College.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Jo Hockenhull is an Oregon-based 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.