Peter Esdaile

Artist Statement

Esdaile’s work has been characterized by colorful and energetic paintings, graphics and sculptures, with numerous exhibitions throughout Europe and Scandinavia. With a background in modernist abstraction from the 40s and 50s, and the classical figurative, Esdaile’s works are an energetic synthesis of deliberate composition and spontaneity, order and chaos, the Apollonian and the Dionysian. Fragments of classical composition are woven together with a more organic creation of surrealist imagery of contemporary pop culture, history and myths. From this perspective, Esdaile’s works are both a phenomenological sensing of the linear sequential measuring of time and an observation of the eternal dream-like moment of the present.

Esdaile’s influences are an eclectic mix of West and East, politics and mysticism. In this exploration of consciousness, Esdaile’s narratives are often inspired by recognizable historical events, past and present, seen through the prism of the archetypal expression. These works create a tableaux that seem like symbolic places where contemporary life might confront the timelessly human. The result can be both strikingly vivid and poetic.