Artist Statement
Three Ideas
- Invention and Design: Giorgio Vasari wrote that the process of painting is divided into two phases; invenzione and disegno. Invenzione (invention or creativity) is the development of the concept of the work before the actual painting is initiated. Disegno (design) means drawing or design and refers to the actual creation of the work. Today we recognize these terms as the description of the creative process. The paintings explore both invention and design at the same time. To invent and design is to be optimistic about the future.
- Time Maps: Each painting is intended to convey the continuous change in the built environment and are a study of the built world over time. Places are always in a state of building, of tearing down and rebuilding again and are never finished. Everywhere we see the ruins of the past, our present spaces and the anticipation of future places. Each piece is a window into an imagined place that simultaneously includes decayed, inhabited and anticipated places.
- Building on Land: The work also represents a continuous study of the relationship between the built environment and the natural world. The paintings are an ongoing exploration of the duality of architecture being both abstract and integrated with the natural environment. My work can be characterized as a continual study of the horizontal and the vertical, of exterior and interior space and, of the land and the sky. Layers, transitions, offsets and shifts define horizontal and vertical space and further represent the development of concepts in the design of architectural space. My paintings are a means to this exploration of shapes as definers of space. The shapes represent space shown in plan, section or elevation and may be read as a plan or a section or an elevation of a structure in its environment.
Elements of Architecture
Typically elements of architecture are characterized as walls, floors, stairs or windows all of which are combined to form architecture. The paintings shown now are focused on the theme of elements in architecture, but in a more abstract and less defined way. Some elements form an organizational hierarchy, others are general or specific. Elements can complement or oppose each other or are permanent or change over time. The elements in the paintings explore:
Horizontality / Verticality
Walls / Light
Enclosures / Voids
Open / Closed
Joints / Seams
Axis / Rotation
Overlay / Shift
Wall as room / Vault
Layers / Transitions
Chassis / Framework / Component
Ground Connection / Space Between
Peter Alberice is a practicing architect and artist living in Asheville, North Carolina. He has both bachelor and master’s degrees in architecture from the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech. His work has been exhibited in several group shows and galleries in the region including Blue Spiral 1, Duke University, Bascombe-Louise Gallery, Upstairs Artspace - Tryon, the Carillon in Charlotte and has been purchased by individual and corporate collectors.
The paintings are acrylic on canvas or mixed media on paper.