Postcards from the Edge

Seattle artist Joe Parks' new work draws viewers into a mysterious underworld.

By: Brangien Davis  |   December 2011   |  FROM THE PRINT EDITION

You may not be able to afford an oil painting by esteemed local artist Joe Park, but you surely can pick up I Am Yours (Chronicle Books; $9.95), a new pack of postcards featuring his richly atmospheric work.

Evoking animation stills, Edward Hopper–style ennui and barely remembered dreams, Park’s work draws viewers into mysterious tableaux—a pensive elephant in a steam bath, rabbits playing chess, a bear on a subway train—that won’t let go.