Peter Greendale

Born 1956 in Raymond, Alberta

Lives & works in Cochrane, Alberta

Artist's Statements:

Drawing

Since my residency at the Banff Centre in 1984/85 my drawing has focused upon the depiction of the common, everyday object. Although I have a reverence for for traditional drawing and in the formal aspects of my work I am also interested in going beyond the aesthetic to have these images serve to comment upon the culture from which they derive.

Photography

For as long as I can remember I have had an interest in photography and a desire to record what I find beautiful and interesting around me.

Photography: Exquisite Corpse

In July of 2009 I was a month long resident artist at the Gushul studio in Blairmore Alberta.  Although my main intent for the residency was to work on my large charcoal drawings I began to explore the area and found it to be a rich and fascinating subject for my photographic work.

I became drawn to the abandoned spaces and rundown buildings in the area and some of these photographs were included in my exhibition titled "Paradise Lost" which was held at the Trianon Gallery in Lethbridge Alberta in late 2011 and early 2012.

I have continued to build on this collection of photographs giving them the title the "Exquisite Corpse."

Photography: Found Light

Since 2015 I have been involved in what has become an ongoing series of photographic work that I've given the title "Found Light."

My concern with this work is not the recording of a particular subject or an event,  rather my process is to seek out interesting visual elements (colour, shape etc.) and through employing the camera's viewfinder visually "construct" new and original imagery.  It is an purely formal approach in that the "subjects" I come across are only important for the visual elements they provide,  For example, the sky is not a background space in which a subject is situated but instead a coloured shape to be employed as a visual element like any other.  I've likened this approach to working with "collage."  Existing formal elements are arranged into new forms and imagery.

The images in "Found Light" are the result of serendipitous strolls through the streets and alleys of towns and cities of southern Alberta and B.C. However, my intention is not to document a specific subject, time or place, but a pursuit of original imagery drawn from the forms, colours and textures I find and arranged using compositional device of the camera's viewfinder.

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Photography: "17th/International Avenue"

Since 2022 I've been exploring the iconic "17th & International Avenue" areas in Calgary AB.  Seventeenth avenue in the south of Calgary and "International Avenue" in the south east are unique in their rich street life, exotic eateries and esoteric boutique shopping. 

As with all of my art photography it's not my intent to systematically document a time and place. Rather my intent is to approach these areas as unique entities and to explore them as an artist

seeking visually interesting imagery.

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Photography: Flowers

What can I say?  They're pretty and they don't move.