Avenue 12 Gallery is delighted to present Jeff Petersen: Entranced | Current State of Being.

The exhibit includes paintings, sculpture, hand burnished woodblock prints, and installations by Jeff Petersen that explore our absorption with the glowing digital device, sometimes at the expense of that which surrounds us.

The exhibit revolves around a central character loosely based on Noppera-bō, a Japanese spirit who pretends to be someone you know, only to reveal itself as a faceless spirit. This character is clearly captivated by the digital world, perhaps absurdly so, and is juxtaposed with the natural world to which it has lost connection. In Petersen’s paintings, the external environments, lush and dreamlike, beckon for inclusion in the character’s current state of being. Yet the internal landscape of Being may be disconnected from humanity, the world, and even itself.

Two window installations were created, “Not Looking” on 12th Avenue, and “Lost at Sea” on Lake Street, that use papier-mâché sculptures, painted wood, found objects, and LED lights.