Artwork copyright Jack Archibald. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Jack Archibald. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Undersea Worlds (Nemo's Flower), 1990

Jack Archibald
(American, born 1950)

Location: Centennial Elementary, Graham

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Undersea Worlds (Nemo's Flower) is a stained glass window created by artist Jack Archibald. This piece is part of his body of glass artworks that he describes as "science fiction mythologies." These artworks incorporate both organic and geometric forms. The title may refer to Captain Nemo, a character in Jules Verne's 1871 novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea." Archibald notes, "I've always wanted to believe that art is something that teaches me how to go about living whether I'm playing banjo or building my boats or making stained glass windows."

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

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Glass artist Jack Archibald uses light to animate the colors and abstract shapes in his stained glass artworks. In his own words, "As a stained glass artist, I work with light. Glass is uniquely interactive with light, its transitions, its intensities, its colors. Throughout the day, a window constantly undergoes transformation. The changing light animates the glass."

Archibald earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (1972) from the University of Wisconsin. In 1981, he established the private studio called "Revisionary Glassworks" on Camano Island, on North Puget Sound, Western Washington.