Seattle-based artist Joe Nix was raised in cities surrounding the Puget Sound, as the son and grandson of Boeing and Naval engineers, whose work is inspired by a personal connection to the blue collar history of a port city. His appreciation of craftsmanship and materiality are evident through the handmade canvases and quality of finish reflective of the vessels that house the mechanical subjects he depicts.

These machines are not soulless. They are historical relics and family portraits; an ode to an industrial port city. They represent a lineage and a spirit that he is driven to hold onto in a time of microchips and plastic. His compositions are some of the last references to blue collar makers in Seattle, poetically piecing together components that have been discarded and forgotten.

Joe grew up in engine rooms witnessing the mechanical orchestra of objects incarnate that brought cold steel and wood vessels to life. He discovered he was an artist in Belltown, through the support of a community of misfits. He is not fond of new visions that replace these foundational structures in his life. A culture that does not value the past will just be next to go.

Nix paints assemblages of engine parts, representative of all of the delicate and resilient components that have made this thing run. His dad and grandfather are in there, and so are the buildings, neighborhoods, artists, drunks, musicians and freaks that made Seattle home. Things change, sure, but where is the wisdom, character, and community responsibility in scrapping it all? These old engines don’t break, they just need a little love and fine tuning. So before you go reinventing the wheel, please hold on.