Check out Sami Peterson’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sami Peterson,

Sami, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
When I was a kid I believed I was an alien. If I could only train these “human” fingers to draw, I thought, I could create maps from my sparse memories, make images of my true body (eight feet tall, with dragon wings, I think). So, art is a way to record what is deepest or not verbalized within me, to make it external.

I still really appreciate using story like that to interact with emotion and human truths. I think a lot about the communication point between art and our interpretations of it. When I studied at UCSD for my bachelor’s degree, I was really interested in interface design, or the interaction between people and technology, and how it borrows from the arts.

In the last few years, art has become less of an individual exploration and more of a community connection. It feels like I quite accidentally ended up in the art collective I have wanted for years. I’m surrounded by a cadre of engineers, musicians, and creative folk that work together. Most of my art that you can find online will be solo work, but you really just see the tree and not its massive underground roots.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I have come from a “new media” perspective of art. I do not think of myself as a painter, or a sculptor, but ideally, I should choose the medium that best suits the work. Sometimes this could be interactive installations or making art robots, both of which I do sometimes.

However, I also have really wanted to find my “thing” for a long time — a unifying aesthetic that people recognize as mine. In the summer of 2016 I was asked to create an installation in the main compartment of a refrigerator. I chose to layer and twist recycled brown paper packaging, coating it all in moody colors of spray paint. It was my first application of “Tangled Paper.”

Early last year, one of the key people in my life ended the romantic portion of our relationship. I wanted to respond in a way to her (yet) unfulfilled promise to create a painting about me, but in my own style. I applied the Tangled Paper to a flat surface, painstakingly painting each facet with a brush. Though I will vary the coloring technique, I feel like I can do Tangled Paper Ideas for years. My ex loves the painting, by the way!

When I am making art, I feel myself having a conversation with both the work and myself. I approach nearly every piece very conceptually. A primary goal is internal consistency; does this mark or color or texture make sense within the universe of the artwork I am creating? So, I want my audience to feel like they are learning a new vocabulary; I want them to feel like they have stepped into an entirely different reality and see if they can make meaning of that. I want them to walk away with a cathartic or refreshing new understanding, however small.

How can artists connect with other artists?
I’ve lived in San Diego my entire life, so I hear you. There’s a lack of attention in this city, like everyone is on vacation so nobody expects connections to be permanent. It sounds odd, but I really recommend to get on dating sites to find artists. You’re allowed to set up an account to look for “friends only.” Art is incredibly intimate, so why not look for it where others are seeking romance? Just make sure to actually meet a lot of people in person. Worst case scenario, you’ll have some interesting stories from the experiment. One ‘date’ crashed a party with me. Another had been stood up by the same woman I had seen the night before.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can unfold the origin story of Tangled Paper Ideas in my Instagram. You’ll find detail and progress pictures often paired with story-prose, and other sketches I do when I can’t be in the studio. The series is also explored more thoroughly (but also more slowly) on my website, where I do have a donate link and a contact form. I am looking for gallery representation and plan to exhibit in the fall or winter. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.samipeterson.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/justtofollowart/

Image Credit:
All images taken by artist of their own work.

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