artist statement : Peter Harper

When I was 20 I was an aspiring writer of short stories, screenplays and poetry. A friend of mine who had a keen knowledge of art history introduced me to artists like Philip Guston, Peter Paul Rubens, Cy Twombly, and Otto Dix; artists I had never heard of, who had such imagination, passion, and depth- I felt related to something they did and wanted to connect with those ideas- but just as they did, I knew I would have to do it in my own way.

Although I had only taken one art class in high school prior to that point, I knew that I could evolve those ideas and feelings I had been turning into words into powerful images.

I began painting in June of '96- for the next two months I painted 30 paintings. I wanted to find a place that would help me grow and challenge me as an artist, so that fall I went to San Francisco Art Institute. I went there for roughly two years but decided what I really wanted to learn could only come from self discovery and spiritual growth, so I dropped out and began to study on my own.

Process

There is always a narration to the paintings themselves, but the approach to these narratives are at times more conceptual than literal. The images can be anything from dreamy, fun, abstract, thought provoking, silly, raw, and sophisticated. Each piece is it's own universe of experiences and ideas. My desire is to maintain a pure focus on why I paint and to keep that meaning expressed in an interesting and personal way to myself and anyone who looks at my work.

Artist Statement

Stories turn into imagination -- these new legends become myths of reality; but the soul of reality always remains, and because of this core we tell the legends more than once. This is not fictional art, this is a telling of myths of reality as purely as possible -- where things dramatically change for the better but sometimes we may not see it. It's a joke. It's a comedy. It's something that can make you cry.

Everyone on this planet will have a million stories to tell and their words will never change the core or central experience. We will paint paintings, make movies, write poetry and jumble up the words and images until they represent only the feeling of these legends and only touch the hem of these ideas but make us wish for much more.

Inspiration as to the usage of the language and substance of art making is what I look for. I use what I have around me -- I see abstraction, realism, vanishing points, textured surfaces, flat planes, facial expressions, and no faces at all as just a part of the new vocabulary of my modern folklore.

Contact Information:
e-mail address: allismile0@gmail.com