Untitled #4, acrylic paint on panel

David Allen Peters is an artist based in Los Angeles, California. In his practice, Peters is a painter, though his technique is one that often seems more akin to sculpture. The artist produces his paintings by layering paint onto a surface and then gouging out small craters to reveal the coloured layers below.

Untitled #9, acrylic paint on panel

I’m fascinated by the way that Peters’ process can be divided into two distinct stages -- the layering, or addition of the paint, and the subsequent removal. It’s as if Peters is a sculptor who not only carves figures out of an abstracted mass, but creates that mass in the first place, exhibiting a great deal of control over his medium. 

The resulting works complex abstract compositions on imposing, monolithic canvases -- what first may appear to be a repeating, firework-esque pattern turns out to be something even more interesting, like thousands of tiny Holton Rower artworks collected on a single picture plane.

Untitled #1, acrylic on panel