Tools As Art: The Hechinger Collection

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Harlan Mathieu, Tsuki-Kanna Series I, 1989
woodcut
14 1/2 x 12 in.

Harlan Mathieu was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, in 1953. In 1976 he received a B.A. in art from Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa. He was awarded an M.A. in 1979 and an M.F.A. in 1981 from the University of Iowa, Iowa City. He is also a designer for theatrical productions and has been a visiting instructor at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. Harlan's sensitive studies of tools, carefully laid out on a work table, draw on the formal qualities of Japanese woodcuts. The images become a powerful testimony of the artist's trade and, with their reference to a calendar form, a kind of personal diary.