Ara Peterson’s arresting three-dimensional objects fall somewhere between painting, sculpture and architecture. The somewhat outmoded practice of a ‘bas-relief’ comes to mind, but this type of ornamentation doesn’t fully capture the voluptuousness of these structures, which are as much about optical clairvoyance as they are about process. Indeed, each piece results from a series of labor-intensive operations, beginning with the synthesis of wave formations that translate the artist’s initial mental image into a basic form. This is an impressionistic use of algorithms to determine the cutting of wooden slats, which are then hand-painted and assembled into unique volumes that are perhaps most simply described as passageways into new visual intensities.

— Franklin Melendez