About

Chris Peterson FRSS (born 1976) is a Dutch / British sculptor living in The Netherlands but active in the field of sculpture worldwide. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal British Society of Sculptors in 2014 and winner of the Millfield School Sculpture Prize in 2007. Chris founded the XYZ-AREA Foundation in 2019, a new art organization in Zwolle, The Netherlands with a main focus on spatial interventions: www.xyz-area.org

Studio

Chris Peterson is a studio whose work includes art, design and architecture. It specializes in large-scale sculptures in stone. He creates bold and clear sculptural interventions that portray a variety of people and situations. Chris works alongside landscape architects, realty developers, branding agencies, local communities, to design artworks that make a significant impact. He works in studios worldwide depending on scale and complexity. His studio is situated in the Netherlands and combined with his other work spaces in Sweden, Italy and China, allow him to work on a variety of projects. Chris has realized public commissions worldwide with a majority of his large-scale works in Asia. His sculptures can be found in South-Korea, Japan, Vietnam, USA, UK, Italy, United Arab Emirates, Slovenia, Sweden and many more places around the globe. 

My narrative

“In today’s society we are surrounded by an intoxicating mix of visual content that leads us to believe it is us. We identify with stuff that seeks our attention instead of stuff that deserves our attention. Our identity has shifted from firmly grounded standards: nature, religion, family, work to more shifty and shaky grounds. Identity as an accumulation of added values makes sensible and durable use of our surroundings and ourselves rather difficult. Society is increasingly afloat because of this development. Our identities and related preferences are becoming less solid and constant as a consequence of this. ‘Identity’ as a key influence on public space, has become an important part of recent work. If space is a collection of memories that guide us to and from places, how do we shape space and govern it?

My work in that respect, is a continuous search and exploration of urban, and in some cases, rural space. It’s by means of observation that certain spaces trigger a sudden fascination. Whether this is based on an interest I take into the human behavior I encounter, or solely from an architectural point of view, the way the space is shaped.

Areas that have a profound dynamic changing nature and character and the effect this has on people, form a starting point for new work. Especially those spaces that have a specific function which tends to gain a distinct different function when used by various people in terms of nationality, religion or background, intrigue me. Their difference in perception of function and destination regarding the use of space, forces me to dissect spaces and translate the outcome of my observations into concepts for sculptures. Giving them new labels and structures allows me to enter different domains and properties both visual, tangible and in thought.

Many of the artworks discuss matters of increasing or decreasing distance. When you dissect and analyze space, you unavoidably have to tackle issues of ‘appropriate distance’. On the other hand, the unifying quality of space and the elements present in it, need to be taken into account as well. Therefore, ‘Separation’ and ‘Unity’ both voluntarily, compulsory or by pressure, play an important role in my work.”