Bio

Erik L. Peterson is a public artist, nature playground designer and builder, and museum educator living and working in Chicago. He is best known for his large-scale urban interventions and neon installations (The Oasis, Inner State, and Seep), reclaimed wood public benches and nature playgrounds (Ashland, Mega-Chaise Lounges, and the We Grow Chicago Nature Park), signature edible ice cream sculptures (CreamCycle and Soft Palate), and public performances camouflaged within urban spaces (Checks and Balances, Two Tow'n, and Square Dance). His work subtly redefines viewers' relationships to their own vision and the spaces they inhabit, making the mundane magical and utilizing scale and surprise to re- work how we interact with each other and with the physical things in our world. His large-scale sculptures and performances encourage people to become active participants in the creation of their own public and civic spaces and suffuse public spaces with wry wit and radical hospitality. Additionally, Peterson is a founder of Hyde Park Kunstverein, a community museum and solo project space in Chicago and Qeej Hero, a trans-cultural video game starring the Hmong wind instrument called the qeej. As a Hatch artist and later Bolt resident, Peterson credits CAC with creating a forum that allowed his work to flourish after graduating with an MFA from UIC in 2010. The generous and creative community of artists, curators, writers and arts administrators at the Chicago Artists Coalition gave him the impetus and drive to continue to produce groundbreaking sculptures and drawings and stretch his artistic muscles, including with a solo project at the 2014 EXPO Chicago, a 40 foot long neon “ooze” called Seep, as well as his first solo gallery show, Dirt, with Bert Green Fine Art (Bert was a visiting studio visitor to the Bolt Residency in 2012). Peterson credits CAC with introducing him to many wonderful people, which in turn led to many long-lasting friendships with artists and curators in Chicago. Peterson is currently working on two large-scale public art commissions - Pop Art (Bubble) and Golden Truth - for the new Lawrence Avenue Arts Corridor in Uptown. Peterson loves hanging out with his amazing wife and daughter in Edgewater.