Artwork copyright Jake Seniuk. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2019.

Artwork copyright Jake Seniuk. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2019.

Artwork copyright Jake Seniuk. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2019.

Artwork copyright Jake Seniuk. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2019.

Artwork copyright Jake Seniuk. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2019.

Artwork copyright Jake Seniuk. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2019.

Eyes of the Lord, 1989

Jake Seniuk
(American, born 1949, died 2016)

Location: Peninsula College, Port Angeles

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Eyes of the Lord is an installation of eleven panels created by artist Jake Seniuk. He printed the acrylic panels with photographic enlargements of eyes from European medieval and Renaissance paintings. Seniuk noted, "God the Universal is an abstraction and, as such, is visible only in the words of the prophets, the visions of mystics, and the creations of artists. For a time, I photographed the imagined gaze of the omniscient deity as represented in original historical artworks, mostly Medieval (450-1450) and Renaissance (1400-1700) paintings."

This artwork and Dan Friday's 'Blanket Bear' glass sculpture reflect opposite ends of the spectrum of Northwest art. Seniuk's Eyes of the Lord installation is informed by European art history, while Friday's 'Blanket Bear' (found on the second floor, north lounge) shows the influence of his Indigenous roots.

Curator Kathleen Garrett selected this artwork as part of a curated collection for Peninsula College in Port Angeles. The artworks installed in Keegan Hall reflect the Pacific Northwest and the many subjects taught in the building. These include Aquaculture, Physics, Biology, and Information Technology.

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

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Port Angeles, Washington-based artist Jake Seniuk (1949-2016) was also a writer and curator.

Seniuk graduate from Harvard College in Massachusetts and the University of Washington in Seattle where he obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree in photography. He was the director of the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center from 1989 to 2012, located on the Olympic Peninsula in Northwestern Washington. He previously served as the program manager for the Washington State Arts Commission's Art in Public Places Program.