Erik Adriel Peterson

Erik Adriel Peterson (they/them) teaches figure drawing and acrylic painting within Philadelphia, PA. They are a recent MFA graduate from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (‘23), where they also obtained a Post-Baccalaureate degree (‘15). Their BFA was received from the Lyme Academy College of the Fine Arts (’14).  A Connecticut native, they presently reside in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Erik Adriel Peterson creates mixed media semi-autobiographical paintings, sculptures, and video. For Peterson, the Home is the embodiment of personified nostalgia and gnosis. Imprints of the estranged Body populate the Home and give rise to fantasy. Due to the passage of time and artistic embellishment, blurred imperfect realities skew these narratives. Personifications of the alienated Body act as Vessels per the artist’s understanding; as a form containing particular qualities. These Vessels relate to Home and Body through the relationship of their cavities and the uncharted space within.