Artwork copyright Dana Squires. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Dana Squires. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Reef View #4, 1995

Dana Squires
(American, born 1957)

Location: Skagit Valley College, Mount Vernon

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

In 1985, artist Dana Squires lived in a small village in Senegal, West Africa. She later spent two years in the South Pacific’s Solomon Islands. Her experiences living in both places inspired her drawing Reef View #4 . She notes, “It goes without saying that visually they provided a lot of material – West African arts and style are renowned, as is the natural beauty of the Pacific islands. But the whole experience of living in these very foreign places was strongly emotional, and that is where the art comes from. It is not literal. The images and ideas go in and come out in a different, sometimes unrecognizable, form.”

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

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Olympia, Washington-based artist Dana Squires was born near Los Angeles, California and moved to Washington in 1975. She graduated from the Evergreen State College. She notes, "My work always is an exploration of shape and the negative space between shapes, of women and of body image."