Galaxy (from: A Genesis)

Gabor Peterdi

From the portfolio A Genesis, illustrating 15 poems by John Ciardi and published by Touchstome Publishers Ltd., NY. The edition was printed on Arches paper. In addition to the edition of 100, there were 50 special proofs. This is the fifteenth of the fifteen images.

Lush earth tones, ranging from mustard to ivory to rust, create a sense of weight and connection to what lies below us; this is in direct contrast to the title of the piece, “Galaxy,” which connotes the heavens. Yet the ties that bind these two subjects - earth and space - are evident in Gabor Peterdi’s visual translation of John Ciardi’s poem “A Genesis.” A study in spatial and textural elements allows the viewer to imagine the layers of our planet’s make-up: the crust, magma, and core, and all of the pockets of mystery that lay within each layer as the globe of Earth orbits its tethering force: the sun.

Peterdi’s work, at every stage of his career, exhibits an unconventional energy that is at once bursting and contained. This is evidenced in each piece created for “A Genesis,” with the lines and textures seeming to want to break out of imposed boundaries, yet whose collective dance always remains harmonious within these same bounds.