peter ko portfolio

These forms are a  cross-section of approximately 2,000 skull doodles done over an 18 month period. They began intuitively as a gameful way of distracting myself from and processing a death in the family and the shock of experiencing a Japanese funereal bone-picking ceremony where the family handles the cremated remains. The grief and trauma of the ritual shattered my notions of death. Combining automatic drawing and imposing formal disciplines such as no crossing lines, tangents only, or flat shapes vs sculptural forms, doodling became a metaphor for facing, owning, and playfully redefining the idea of death on my own terms by exercising creativity as a defiant, celebratory, life-affirming act in the face of finality itself. 

I became interested in the herding patterns and behavior of bait fish, painting them as conceptual maps to reflect our decision-making criteria and question our relationships to the social contracts and paradigms we involve ourselves with. Baitfish are genetically programmed to swim in the direction their neighbors go as a collective conscience; no one fish is in charge. Humans are obviously more complex and nuanced, yet we bargain w/ ourselves to relinquish individuality and acquiesce, both to our benefit and/or detriment. I wanted to raise existential awareness of how our everyday choices are influenced, made, and have a ripple effect on those around us.

2017

2015

2012

Animation