Peterson considers these transformations before integrating another round of carving. This repeating process evolves until a delicate balance of opposites is reached. All at once smooth and coarse, the artworkis completed by applying a finish to accentuate the final form.
New Works
Joie Lassiter Gallery presents "New Works", an exhibition for artist George Peterson. The exhibition opens Friday, March 2nd and will be on view through
the end of March. Peterson's process is a delicate and aggressive interplay
with Nature.
After working freshly cut wood by gouging, carving, and sanding, he involves
Nature, yet again, exposing the wood to the elements, causing it to crack
and writhe. Peterson considers these transformations before integrating
another round of carving. This repeating process evolves until a delicate
balance of opposites is reached. All at once smooth and coarse, the artwork
is completed by applying a finish to accentuate the final form.
"As I work the wood, I collaborate with it. The wood has a voice and I have
a voice: we interact."
Commanding not only visual poise, Peterson's sculpture creates the desire to
touch. Primitive, and yet Contemporary, the sculptures create a presence
that is simultaneously comforting and questioning. Surfaces are interrupted
by shiny precipices, like mountains, generating interesting questions of
representation. Dark totems, inspired by African woodcarving, powerfully jut
in and out of space. Other works evoke skeletal imagery, strengthening the
human dimension to Peterson's art, which, through eliciting emotions, he
claims is a key.
By violating ordinary rules, Peterson reveals a view and unexpected beauty.
He records his process as an interactive dance of energy and resistance in
which something of discord plays a leading role. Controlled danger and
power are intrinsic to turning and, therefore, implicit in even the most
refined turned objects. By rejecting pre-ordained form and absolute
control, Peterson makes process an explicit part of the content of his work.
The work, however, is not simply about turning. It also suggests a context
in which approximations; accidents and irregularity have a positive meaning,
a world which rewards boldness and simplicity.
Joie Lassiter Gallery
1440 South Tryon Street - Charlotte, NC 28203