The opening of the long-awaited new studio is a great opportunity to showcase Peter Day’s cache of works created between 1979 and 2008, and celebrate his professional career as an artist. This exhibition showcases his personal favourite paintings, prints and etchings.
Peter’s range of materials are arches paper, linen, timber, steel, glass, cotton materials and ceramics. He utilises diverse media including oils, acrylic, keim mineral silicate dry fresco, oriental ink, coloured pencil, pastels, crayons, gold leaf, pigment based inks, and natural materials such as rock, bark, sand and dirt.
Most of his works are landscape based – depicting the physical environment in a semi or abstract manner with a touch of marks and squiggles, bringing out a sense of joy, happiness, connectivity and unity. For Peter these touches are stimuli that relate to some actions and/or a special significant imaginary. It can be said these touches are Peter’s distinctive individual style, just like the characteristic personal marks made by an oriental calligrapher. Whether it is a painting, print or etching – there is a depth of richness telling a story of a particular time or a place, allowing the viewer to make their own interpretation, as Peter believes the meaning lies within the works of art itself.
Most of the landscape ideas are conceived from environmental stimulus and Peter translates them into abstract features creating an intense explosion of colour and shape. He is very driven by contemporary materials, embracing today’s technology i.e. computer-generated images on paper and canvas. This modern technology has neither lessened his craftsmanship nor integrity as an artist, but has increased his awareness and passion for exploration in creating new works.
Peter’s works have been shown in over thirty solo shows and grace many public and private collections both in Australia and overseas, including the Department of Foreign Affairs, Commonwealth Bank, five universities, several regional galleries and possibly your home.
It needs to be noted that Peter is the Artistic Director of Peter Day Environmental Art and Design (EA+D) and in 2009 received a Business Award for Professional Services. EA+D specialises in site specific public art and have completed over two hundred commissioned projects in Australia and overseas – murals, sculptures, ceramics and mosaics in public places. One example of this work is the King George V Recreational Centre Mural, the largest community mural in the Southern Hemisphere, located at The Rocks, Sydney, completed over thirty years ago.
Footnote: In 2010 Peter was awarded the commission to paint an additional 400msq section to the KGV Mural – ‘The Great Southern Wall’.