This is not little red riding hood, and yet to me the paintings of Kevin Peterson very much encapsulate one of the streams of interpretation of this ancient fairytale. The coupling of the wild with the young innocent human in a decaying urban setting is a modern day fairytale, an observation, a post-warning of our destruction and the demise of all we hold sacred.
"I’m trying to capture a moment. These moments usually contain a stark contrast between subject and environment. The innocence of a child against a ragged, defiled backdrop. I put a child in an environment that you wouldn’t normally see a young person alone, I think it’s a metaphor for growing up. Its about that stuff we all go through that forms who we are as adults. Little traumas or sometimes big ones, all of those things that form our defenses and cause us to build walls and inner strength. Time is another important aspect of my work. The way we change and the way our environment changes around us." Kevin Peterson
