05/22/2026
We are currently showcasing the work of at Gallery Belltown Condominium
☘️
LISA HASEGAWA: Port Tank Studies, Letterpress
-
The first artwork shown on this post
Port 1.7
2025
10 x 8"
Collage, watercolor, pencil, hand-sewn thread, letterpress
Available for sale
-
LISA HASEGAWA: Port Tank Studies
When Lisa moved to Tacoma in 2020 she fell in love with the rustic beauty of the Port of Tacoma: the old industrial buildings with peeling paint, the stacks of containers waiting for their next journey, and the cranes poised to lift them into motion. But most of all—the tanks.
The distorted patterns of line and texture.
The repetition of form, each tank bearing its own scars.
Clusters of varying sizes, shapes, and colors.
The slow accretion of rust and grime, dripping down their sides.
The loveliest blues.
The deviations of white.
The colors painted by time.
These tanks and their surroundings captivated Lisa, but she wrestled with how best to represent them. Letterpress is my primary medium, but my early attempts—printed on postcards—didn’t quite capture the essence. She wanted balance between abstraction and representation, without reducing the tanks to mere architectural forms.
Watercolor became the answer. Lisa painted the tanks and hung the sheets to dry, allowing the pigment to drip down the paper, echoing the rust and grime in my photographs. she then turned to my archive of graph and writing papers, collaging them to echo the fractured lines and patterns etched into the tanks by weather and time. she stitched into the surface with thread, layering texture to reflect the delicate roughness she saw in the port.
This body of work is a meditation on industrial decay and the quiet poetry of utilitarian forms. It is about finding beauty where it is often overlooked, and honoring the way in which time leaves its mark.
💐
Location: Gallery Belltown Condominium
Please contact to view this beautiful work in person ☺️
-
-
-