Artwork copyright Maxine Martell. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Maxine Martell. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Test Tubes, 1983

Maxine Martell
(American, born 1937)

Location: Lake Washington Institute of Technology, Kirkland

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Test Tubes is a painting by artist Maxine Martell. The composition features abstracted and stylized imagery of human figures carrying large, colorful test tubes. The artist notes that these images suggest natural elements and the human psyche. She notes, "They have evolved from my interior response to the energy that surrounds and informs us."

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Lake Washington Technical College.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Pacific Northwest artist Maxine Martell creates drawings, prints, paintings, and glass installations.

Maxine Martell received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fort Wright College in Spokane, Eastern Washington, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1962. She has been an artist-in-residence at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood (NW Washington), Western Washington University, and the Centrum Foundation in Port Townsend (all in Northwestern Washington). She has also served as the curator for the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane and director of the Spokane Arts School (both in Eastern Washington), before moving to Western Washington. She lives and works on Whidbey Island, Northwestern Washington, and keeps a studio in Seattle. The Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner in Spokane exhibited a retrospective of her work in 2010.