"My newest body of work is based on a collection of lead soldiers my father assembled over the course of his life. I was surprised when I
inherited them to see how many depicted Arab and North African soldiers. There were Zouaves, Saracenes, Mamaluks and Ottoman Turks. It
struck me as strange that we have been demonizing certain cultures forever. That even in child’s play the exotic could take on a menacing and
evil aspect.
My first instinct was to look closer. I take macro photographs of the figures with raking light to heighten their effect and to exaggerate the
distortions in the figures. I then use the photographs as a starting point for a series of paintings that would be larger than life. The scale is
important to me because I want to reverse the roles of viewer and subject and have the toys loom over us. A toy Buckingham Palace guard can
tower over the viewer like an equestrian sculpture. The backgrounds have varied from suggestions of landscapes to more familiar still life shelf
settings. They can appear almost real and at other times more in keeping with the sculpture as still life tradition.
The most exciting aspect of the blow-ups for me is the ways in which the figures become distorted by scale. Hands and feet appear to have
been mangled, the pockmarks of missing paint looks like shrapnel wounds. Faces that seemed acceptable as miniatures become grotesques
when enlarged, swords become chain saws, rifles can become candy canes. What was serious appears absurd and the innocent become
morbid. Riflemen teetering on their wobbly stands becomes a metaphor for the instability of colonialist thinking and the entire project takes on
the feeling of some horrific déjà vu. It’s frightening to think that so much animosity can be embedded in a child’s toy."
inherited them to see how many depicted Arab and North African soldiers. There were Zouaves, Saracenes, Mamaluks and Ottoman Turks. It
struck me as strange that we have been demonizing certain cultures forever. That even in child’s play the exotic could take on a menacing and
evil aspect.
My first instinct was to look closer. I take macro photographs of the figures with raking light to heighten their effect and to exaggerate the
distortions in the figures. I then use the photographs as a starting point for a series of paintings that would be larger than life. The scale is
important to me because I want to reverse the roles of viewer and subject and have the toys loom over us. A toy Buckingham Palace guard can
tower over the viewer like an equestrian sculpture. The backgrounds have varied from suggestions of landscapes to more familiar still life shelf
settings. They can appear almost real and at other times more in keeping with the sculpture as still life tradition.
The most exciting aspect of the blow-ups for me is the ways in which the figures become distorted by scale. Hands and feet appear to have
been mangled, the pockmarks of missing paint looks like shrapnel wounds. Faces that seemed acceptable as miniatures become grotesques
when enlarged, swords become chain saws, rifles can become candy canes. What was serious appears absurd and the innocent become
morbid. Riflemen teetering on their wobbly stands becomes a metaphor for the instability of colonialist thinking and the entire project takes on
the feeling of some horrific déjà vu. It’s frightening to think that so much animosity can be embedded in a child’s toy."
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| Peter drake |
| Tassel 2008 82 x 82 Acryllic On Canvas |
| Waiting 2014 Acrylic on Canvas 42 x 48 inches |
| Day For Night Acrylic on Canvas, 65 x 65 inches Courtesy of Linda Warren Projects |
| Four Riders by Peter Drake 2012, 111.5 x 147.5 in Acrylic on canvas Courtesy of Linda Warren Projects |
| Station Master 2014 Acrylic on Canvas 42 x 52 inches |
| Steamer, 2014 Acrylic on Canvas 52 x 42 inches Linda Warren Projects |
| Do it Yourself 2008 Acrylic on canvas 67 x 57 inches |
| Tripod 2008 49 x 65 Acrylic On Canvas |
| Burnoose 2008 82 x 58 Acrylic On Canvas |
| Bayonette 2008 48 x 64 Acrylic On Canvas |
| Pyramid 2008 20 x 16 Acrylic On Canvas |
| Doughboy 2008 20 x 16 Acrylic On Canvas |
| Babylon Assault 2006 29 x 28 Acrylic On canvas |
| Overlook 2007 89 x 117 Acrylic On Canvas |
| Annunciation 2005 Acrylic On Canvas 62 x 65 |