Artwork copyright Deborah Horrell. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Puffer's Ascent, 1979

Deborah Horrell
American (born 1953)

Location: Summit Trail Middle School, Ravensdale

About the Artwork

Puffer's Ascent is a drawing by artist Deborah Horrell. The composition references Japanese Hashira-e, or "Pillar Prints," which are long and narrow in format. The imagery features a nest made of bones, symbols of life and death, strength and fragility. She notes, "A fish, the puffer, ascends, changing from a full-bodied fish to that of a skeleton, becoming ephemeral, disappearing into nebulous space. This imagery reflects the idea of transition in life paralleling that of the bone."

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

About the Artist

Portland, Oregon-based artist and teacher Deborah Horrell creates glass works and ceramics.
Horrell received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in ceramics from Arizona State University in Tempe in 1975. She received a Master of Fine Arts degree in ceramics from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1979. She served as an assistant professor of ceramics at Ohio State University. She studied glass blowing during a residency at the Pilchuck School of Glass in Stanwood, Northwestern Washington in 1994. This residency, and another at Bullseye Glass in Portland in 1996, caused a shift in the focus of her artistic practice toward glass sculpture and installation.