Artist: Peter Kirkland
Medium: Oil on wood
Dimensions: 48''x 24''

Bidding on this artwork will take place at the Live Auction event, Friday, April 4. Tickets available at the link at dvsa.ca. Absentee bids can also be placed in advance – request a form at the school office or email bid@dvsa.ca.

About This Piece
In broad strokes, my inspiration comes from a wide range of natural and cultural sources – my forms are a mashup of figurative, botanical, geological and fungally-derived references, reflecting my belief that our planet is a single superorganism. This is organized into a space that derives equally from medieval stained glass (with its shallow three-dimensionality, sharp silhouettes and large expanses of undifferentiated colour) and Renaissance models, particularly the Venetian masters, from whence I derive my oil glazing technique.

Artist Statement
My recent work investigates ways of creating images expressing cycles of growth and decay. There are two aspects of this: first, the forms I draw or paint derive from botanical and figurative sources, although I try to keep them non-specific so they have an allusive rather than illustrative effect. Secondly, the technique I employ involves adding and removing layers of paint or charcoal, creating a palimpsest surface suggestive of a succession of phases or generations. 

Biography
Hamilton artist, Peter Kirkland, trained at York University and completed his advanced studies at Dundas Valley School of Art.  Since then, he has exhibited throughout the region and he works out of his studio on James St. North in Hamilton.

peterkirkland.com