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

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

Ten Archetypes: Exile, 1990-1992

Jake Seniuk
(American, born 1949, died 2016)

Location: Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Exile is an intricately layered, metal light-box sculpture by artist Jake Seniuk. It is part of his Ten Archetypes series that are conceptually inspired by the work of 20th century thinker Carl Jung. The lightbox features autobiographical text on the front. The lightbox doors swing open to display an illuminated orange silhouette of a figure and the text "Gulag" and "Gaia." On the inside of the lightbox doors, Seniuk features images and text related to psychologist Timothy Leary and the lyrics to a song by The Moody Blues.

This artwork is part of Jake Seniuk's series of light-box sculptures created for the collection "Who We Are: Autobiographies in Art." The series was commissioned by the Washington State Arts Commission in partnership with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1990.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Who We Are: Autobiographies in Art Collection.

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.