About Peter Kirkland
Peter Kirkland is a Canadian Abstract artist. He has exhibited his drawings and paintings throughout southern Ontario since receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from York University in 1987. In the meantime he has also completed the Advanced Studies program at the Dundas Valley School of Art, and has taught courses in drawing and painting at the Burlington Art Centre as well as serving as a juror in group exhibitions. His work is included in numerous private and corporate collections. Contact the artist. View his CV now.
Artist Statement
My paintings and drawings contain forms which I intend to be elliptical, suggestive perhaps of sources in nature but never so specific that they could be limited to a single interpretation. In my current work, shallow three-dimensional space is created through the use of sharp silhouettes and by exploiting colour temperature, resulting in an impression of spatial solidity that would normally have been undercut by the non-figurative nature of the work’s subject matter.
As an artist, I routinely remove layers, either by erasing and blocking out with gesso in the drawings, or sanding in the paintings. These revisions are a deliberate disruption of the creative process, designed to force a rethinking of the image’s development by introducing elements beyond the artist’s control. Traces of the cancelled images usually persist, though, tracking the construction of the work through time and creating something of an internal narrative.
As an artist, I routinely remove layers, either by erasing and blocking out with gesso in the drawings, or sanding in the paintings. These revisions are a deliberate disruption of the creative process, designed to force a rethinking of the image’s development by introducing elements beyond the artist’s control. Traces of the cancelled images usually persist, though, tracking the construction of the work through time and creating something of an internal narrative.