Peter Kudrna

Artist Statement: I have a life long interest in drawing. Some years ago this interest turned itself to the subject of apples. At this time drawings of apples seemed to emerge naturally, almost involuntarily and without thinking. This in my opinion is how drawing at its best happens. It should not be deliberate or premeditated. Consequently I can only speculate as to the reason for the apples. In doing this I find it impossible to ignore the potency of the apple as a symbol for knowledge, temptation, and the fall from grace. With all this in mind I have come to focus my attention on the Biblical idea of original sin. As sins go this one is fascinating in that it can be seen as designating the point at which human beings achieved consciousness and all that comes with it; the capacity for thought, reason, language and science. It intrigues me that this occasion would be marked as a sin given that doing so regards all this as a mistake that should never have happened. When considering my apples I see a visual exploration of themes surrounding an ambivalence implied by this take on original sin.