“MIST”KEVIN PETERSON
““These paintings are about trauma, fear and loneliness and the strength that it takes to survive and thrive,” says Peterson. “They each contain the contrast of the untainted, young and innocent against a backdrop of a worn, ragged, and defiled world.””
Opening Reception:
Saturday, April 5 | 6–10pm
On View: April 5 – April 26
Venue: Thinkspace Projects
Kevin Peterson’s hauntingly cinematic worlds return to Thinkspace Projects this spring in his highly anticipated seventh solo exhibition with the gallery, titled Mist. Known for his meticulous layering of oil paint and symbolism, Peterson’s work walks a delicate tightrope between innocence and decay — a visual conversation between fragility and resilience that speaks to the heart of human experience.
This newest body of work features 15 new pieces, including the exciting debut of two works with three-dimensional elements — an intriguing evolution in Peterson’s already immersive storytelling style. With Mist, he leans deeper into dimensionality, not only physically, but emotionally — pushing boundaries between traditional painting and sculptural form to explore themes of memory, trauma, and survival.
At first glance, Peterson’s works feel like scenes pulled from a post-apocalyptic dream. Children and animals wander through derelict landscapes: overgrown city streets, graffitied ruins, and buildings once bustling with life now left to nature. These subjects — often portrayed with remarkable stillness and strength — evoke a powerful juxtaposition. In Mist, the purity of youth becomes a guidepost through the fog of a fractured world.
There’s an eerie clarity in his work, as though each frame is a breath held too long. The tension between tenderness and tension, hope and hardship, pulses through the imagery. Themes of race, economic disparity, and psychological restraint rise subtly to the surface, challenging the viewer to reflect on the systems that shape our behavior — and the inner children navigating them.
What makes Mist feel especially resonant now is Peterson’s unflinching commitment to duality. The emotional landscapes he paints — loneliness paired with optimism, bondage met with freedom — mirror the complex terrain of today’s global psyche. In an age of reconstruction and reckoning, Peterson’s work reminds us that healing isn’t linear, and hope isn’t fragile.
Mist doesn’t just blur the lines between painting and sculpture — it blurs the lines between the outer world and our inner states. Whether you enter as a fan of hyperrealism, street art, or introspective visual storytelling, Peterson’s exhibition is an invitation to pause, reflect, and walk bravely through the mist.