Artwork copyright Peggy Hitchcock. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Peggy Hitchcock. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Encircle, 1991

Peggy Hitchcock
American (born 1951)

Location: Dearborn Park International Elementary School, Seattle

About the Artwork

Encircle is part of artist Peggy Hitchcock's series of paintings that depict grape-like forms via a combination of screen printing and painting. It explores color, texture, and form: “With stems for noses they appear to be facing a variety of directions... The grapes are a finite set with infinite possible compositions analogous to musical notes with inexhaustible scores.” Hitchcock notes that "our history with [grapes] is ageless. Sustenance, harvesting, wine and communion are among the associations with this fruit. Ironically, by removing these grapes from their bunches, they lose their instant identity."

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

About the Artist

Northwest artist Peggy Hitchcock creates paintings and wall sculptures that explore pattern and form. In most of her artworks, she uses silkscreened and photocopied images based on books, magazines, and other media. She has a library of hundreds of screens that reference history, decorative patterns, the natural world, and much more. Hitchcock explains that part of the beauty of art is that it is "language for our eyes." She grew up in Ohio and has lived and worked in Seattle since the early 1980s.