Peter explains his new solo exhibition as “[A] big moment in my art career featuring a lot of inspiration from Maine and Portland in the work.”
About Sacred / Mundane
The show, Sacred / Mundane, will remain on view at the Lois Lambert Gallery in Santa Monica, CA from November 12, 2022 until January 7, 2023, and feature new works by the artist. To create these works, Wallis collected ideas from scenes that might typically go unnoticed during walks at dusk through his past and present neighborhoods. Inspired by these moments, Wallis wove together both real and imagined images—bringing places, locations, and periods of time into a single realm—to create entirely new landscapes in which "the mundane is sacred." Those collages and sketches then became the references for final paintings in gouache and charcoal.
For this exhibition, Wallis also collaborated with artist Jonathan Capone to create interactive versions of his work for this exhibition. On some of Wallis’ pieces, the pair have created animations that use the viewer’s body motions, gestures, and interactions to activate and engage with the work in live time. The viewer’s movement triggers different parts of the animations embedded in Wallis’ work.
About Peter Wallis
Wallis (@petersleeves) graduated from our Illustration program with a double minor in Art History and Drawing and completed an MFA focusing on printmaking, graphic novels, and peace studies at Goddard College. He has an interdisciplinary practice and teaches visual arts at independent schools and nonprofit arts organizations around the country.
Dates
For anyone in the Santa Monica area on Saturday, December 17, please join Peter Wallis and Chris Steigler, Chair of our MFA program, at the Lois Lambert Gallery from 1–3pm for a cocktail reception and panel discussion about narrative, costume/character, figuration, and more. Steigler will be available after the event to answer any questions about the Maine College of Art & Design MFA program.