Artwork copyright David Joyce. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright David Joyce. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright David Joyce. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright David Joyce. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2025.

Artwork copyright David Joyce. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2025.

Komachin '96, 1995

David Joyce
Canadian (born 1946, died 2003)

Location: Komachin Middle School, Lacey

About the Artwork

Komachin '96 is a photographic mural created by artist David Joyce for Komachin Middle School. The mural features over 15,000 postage stamp-sized portraits of Komachin students, arranged as pixels to form a larger portrait image. To create the mural, he spent four days photographing 600 students and teachers against different backgrounds. He created a booth with a hand-held shutter, allowing students to create and control their own self-portraits. He then used digital software to sort the individual portraits into different values of white, gray and black. Using Adobe Photoshop, he replaced each pixel in the larger image with a small portrait of corresponding value. The viewer's experience of this piece changes as you approach the piece. At first, it appears as a straightforward photographic mural. Stepping closer, the image changes dramatically as you become aware of all the portraits that make up the whole.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with North Thurston Public Schools.

About the Artist

Artist David Joyce (1946-2003) created sculptures made from enlarged photographic cutouts. These artworks depict realistic, life-size figures that are flat and monochromatic. His compositions highlight the boundary between the real and the abstract. Joyce studied at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where he received a Master of Fine Arts degree. He taught at Lane Community College in Eugene for twenty five years.