In the twelve years since I moved to Brooklyn and set up a studio, I have made TONS of work on paper. For those of you familiar with my energy level and personality, this should be no surprise—but this proclivity to produce does lead to an alarming accumulation of work stuffed into makeshift folders. These small paintings and drawings allow me to explore new ideas and develop themes that I’m already working through. Sometimes, they are simply a way of keeping alive the pleasure of color, line, and composition. Many of these works end up in the trash or on the studio floor, but others have been part of gallery shows. Just after the new year, I went through my portfolios and pulled out some of the ones that still speak to me. Several of these date back to my time in graduate school while others are from this year. The studies of curving agave leaves arose during our quarantine in Los Angeles and the depths of COVID. The images posted here are a small fraction of my output, but they convey some of the main tendencies in my work over the past decade. I hope you enjoy looking through these, as they are the engine that powers my studio practice.
I’m sharing these pictures in the hopes that these pieces might escape my studio by one means or another. The process of photographing them forced me to confront the meandering investigations that have been underway in my work for so many years. If you would like to purchase one, the prices dimensions, and inventory number are listed below each image. I’ve included a smaller picture to show the full composition followed by a larger file that captures more of the details and texture. These are unframed works on paper, and some have tattered corners or some holes from where I tacked them up on my studio wall. The advantage of unframed work is that it's safe and inexpensive to ship. I'm happy to send these to you or as a gift to someone else, and will do my best to process any orders quickly.
- Peter
