Peter Kluge
petergustavkluge.artspan.com/home
www.petergustavklugeasf.com/about-the-artist
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Short Stories
I've never been very good at creating a statement that explains what my work is about. Short stories or Snapshots come closest.
My earliest exposure to ‘making art’ was in grade school. The teacher, regardless of the topic, had the class construct what she called a ‘Freeze,’ which was a mural made of construction paper, crayons, and paint to highlight the lesson. We made everything from Swiss Villages for geography to Oil Fields for Science, showing the everyday life of the people who inhabited the places on our classroom walls.
An introduction to Art on a more formal level began in college during the ’60s; both affected my view of the world and society. Social unrest in the form of the civil rights movement, protest of the war in Vietnam, the drug culture, the sexual revolution, and rock and roll helped shape my sensibilities regarding my concept of art. During my first few years of art instruction in college, my interest was drawn to intaglio printmaking and the etchings of Pieter Bruegel, Käthe Kollwitz, and the Ashcan School of American Art. The idea of producing multiple images, each one the same, each one different, each one an original, appealed to me. I liked the idea of making art affordable. Making art for the public, for those who enjoyed artwork but could not afford an original painting. I also enjoyed the process of printing.
My interest in printmaking has influenced every aspect of my approach to making art, including my paintings, drawings, and photographs, not only in composition but often in subject matter. Drawings became studies for prints, and when I lacked sufficient time to sketch on-site, I used a camera to use the photos as references for drawings for prints.
Subject-wise, my interest encompasses almost anything. I may use my work to comment on society, explore a myth, or share an experience. In doing so, I often manipulate perspective or colors to accentuate the concept.
