Young Children Accompanied by Wildlife Take a Stance Among Urban Decay in Paintings by Kevin Peterson

Kevin Peterson  continues to paint detailed tableaux of young children and animals juxtaposed against dystopian urban environments. Solo kids, accompanied only by wild allies of polar bears, lions, and raccoons, are at the center of each painting surrounded by abandoned, decaying buildings. Whereas his earlier paintings showed the children striding forward and exploring, more recently his young subjects have been paused, seeming to be in moments of reflection or defiance.

Kevin Peterson was born in 1979 in Elko, Nevada. After a childhood which included stints in Nevada, Michigan and Washington, Kevin arrived in Texas in 1996. He studied art and psychology at Austin College in Sherman, TX. He received degrees in Fine Art and Psychology in 2001.

Kevin pursued a career in Social work after graduating. He worked as a Probation Officer in Austin for 3 years.

During this time, difficulties with drugs and alcohol plagued his life and eventually led to an arrest and the loss of his job. While in a drug/alcohol treatment facility, Kevin rediscovered his love and passion for creating art. He decided to pursue this passion after completion of the treatment program. Kevin now makes his home in Houston, TX where he works out of Winter Street Studios.

Peterson studied fine art alongside psychology in college and his varied career included a graduate degree in social work and a job as a corrections officer before he returned to his art practice in 2005. The artist’s interest in psychology and societal dynamics helps inform the intention behind his works, which Peterson describes as dealing “with isolation, loneliness and longing teamed with a level of optimistic hope. Issues of race and the division of wealth have arisen in my recent work. This work deals with the idea of rigid boundaries, the hopeful breakdown of such restrictions, as well as questions about the forces that orchestrate our behavior.”

Peterson is based in Houston, Texas and is represented by Thinkspace Gallery in Culver City, California. He shares his works in progress and finished paintings on Instagram.