Hawksbill Station 1970

Don Ivan Punchatz made this painting, Hawksbill Station, using traditional painting techniques. The artist built up layers of paint to create a textured, dream-like surface, using the inherent qualities of oil to suggest form and depth, resulting in a very smooth surface. The figures are trapped on this rock, a nod perhaps to the penal colony depicted in Robert Silverberg's novel of the same name. The labor involved in this artwork is quite remarkable, each brushstroke contributes to the overall effect of a strange and alien world. The smooth finish belies the amount of time and effort that went into its creation. The context here is science fiction, but the labor and the figures evoke our own place within the machinery of society. The painting challenges us to rethink the distinctions between art and craft, inviting us to appreciate the skill and labor that went into its making.