George Peterson
"I take an intuitive and spontaneous approach to my work. The action of shaping the
wood with my hand-held tools is satisfying in a very basic way. As I work the wood,
I collaborate with it. The wood has a voice and I have a voice. We interact."
George Peterson, a self-taught turner and sculptor, has been a full time studio artist since 1992.
"...George Peterson's scorched turnings of unrefined chunks of wood draw attention to
the nature of the turning process and to the primal character of wood by presenting both in a
fashion which in other circumstances might be seen as a grotesque mistake. By violating
ordinary rules, Peterson reveals a view and unexpected beauty. He records his process as an
interactive dance of energy and resistance in which something of discord plays a leading role.
Controlled danger and power are intrinsic to turning and, therefore, implicit in even the most
refined turned objects. By rejecting pre-ordained from and absolute control, Peterson makes
process an explicit part of the content of his work. The work, though, is not simply about
turning, it suggests a context in which approximations, accidents, and irregularity have a
positive meaning, a world which rewards boldness and simplicity."
PERMANENT MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
Mint Museum of Craft + Design
Boston Fine Arts Museum
Wustum Museum
Woodturning Center
wood with my hand-held tools is satisfying in a very basic way. As I work the wood,
I collaborate with it. The wood has a voice and I have a voice. We interact."
George Peterson, a self-taught turner and sculptor, has been a full time studio artist since 1992.
"...George Peterson's scorched turnings of unrefined chunks of wood draw attention to
the nature of the turning process and to the primal character of wood by presenting both in a
fashion which in other circumstances might be seen as a grotesque mistake. By violating
ordinary rules, Peterson reveals a view and unexpected beauty. He records his process as an
interactive dance of energy and resistance in which something of discord plays a leading role.
Controlled danger and power are intrinsic to turning and, therefore, implicit in even the most
refined turned objects. By rejecting pre-ordained from and absolute control, Peterson makes
process an explicit part of the content of his work. The work, though, is not simply about
turning, it suggests a context in which approximations, accidents, and irregularity have a
positive meaning, a world which rewards boldness and simplicity."
PERMANENT MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
Mint Museum of Craft + Design
Boston Fine Arts Museum
Wustum Museum
Woodturning Center