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PETER KRSKO: ARBORIA This series has been developed as a commentary on the relationship between humans and flora, namely trees. In today society, after the trees are harvested, they are cut up into straight sterile dimensional lumber, mostly for the construction industry. Tons of this lumber ends up in the landfills. Originally, Krsko recovered this refuse, ripped it into thin strips and created forms that mimic the former organic forms, thus completing the cycles of life and death. |
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ARBORI 2019 Monona Terrace Art on the Roof, Madison, WI The contrast within this sculpture arises from the combination of the cubic lattice that divides the space into regular pattern and the organic tree-inspired topography of the outer boundary. The lumber material will start as bright yellow pine and with time will slowly change into grey. The sculpture is partially inspired by the architecture, and was built on site at Monona Terrace. 
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XYLEMXYL 2018 Ableman's Gorge in Rock Springs, WI Commissioned by Wormfarm Institute for Art/Farm DTour 2018 |
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PARA Z 2018 Highland Park, Chicago IL Commissioned by Chicago Sculpture International and Chicago Department of Parks This installation consists of the old majestic tree and the pre-fabricated modules. The modules are also made of wood, but the contrast with the tree is striking. The tree is an old, weathered witness to the immediate life on this street. Its trunk is hard and heavy. The modules represent the modern manufacturing and fabrication methods. They are stream-lined, sterile, straight, light and soft. There are many of them and they are repeating. The tree may be dead but it is still a functional member of the local urban ecosystem. When its branches were cut off, it became less inviting to the birds. It is harder for them to sit on it, to nest on it, to be protected by it. However, immediately after the pre-fabricated modules were installed, the birds took a new interest in the tree. They came back. It is not easy to determine whether the modules are a parasitic component of the installation, or if a mutualistic symbiosis was created, when they became the new branches. |
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BOTANY 2017 University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI Sponsored by the Division of the Arts, UW Madison |
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NOSTOS G(LAUKOS) 2018 Eaux Claires Festival, Eau Claire, WI |
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NOSTOS K(YANOUS) 2018 Eaux Claires Festival, Eau Claire, WI |
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ASTRON 2018 Collaboration with Nathan "SLOKE ONE" Nordstrom Longview Neighborhood Park and Edward Rendon Sr Park in Austin, TX Commissioned by Cultural Arts Division Austin for TEMPO 2018 |
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GROWTH 2017 Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Madison, WI Sponsored by the Divison of the Arts, UW Madison and Olbrich Botanical Gardens |
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SYLVAN CHAPEL 2014 Reedsburg, WI Commissioned by the Wormfarm Institute for Art/Farm DTour 2014 |
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CHORUS CIRCULUS 2018 Studio 39, Annapolis, MD Commissioned by Anne Arundel County Public Schools The high school students collaborated with artist Peter Krsko, who studies nature and shares his findings through art projects. The installation in Annapolis is intended to be a unique environment inviting the viewers to walk in and contemplate the organic geometry and their relationship with the living surroundings. This form of bioinspired art is strongly connected to science and engineering. The form emerges from the basic characteristic of the material that the students are working with. Pine lath is a traditional building material for creating plaster walls. However, the strength comes from its elasticity that is inherited from the trees they were milled from. Krsko recovers unwanted lumber from construction sites, cuts it into thin slats and returns it back into its original organic form. Besides assisting in the fabrication process, the students also explored the world of science and new methods used for seeing nature in a completely new way. Krsko hopes to ignite passion for studying nature, questioning everything, and realizing the strong relationship our society has with the living environment around us. |
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APOPTOSIS 2015 The Fridge Gallery, Washington, DC Solo Exhibit "In biological apoptosis, parts of an organism perish so the whole can achieve optimal form. But what preceded Krsko’s work was not, of course, a natural process. Trees were felled, stripped of bark and sliced into rectangular planks. The Slovakia-bred artist restores something of their previous existence to these unfinished boards by assembling them into structures that twist, taper and climb. Krsko has constructed similar pieces outdoors, attaching lengths of vertically curving wood to living trees. By bringing the technique inside, he emphasizes his sculpture’s architectural aspects. The effect is part forest, part wooden cathedral." - Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post |
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PARA 2018 Stevens Point, WI Commissioned by Stevens Point Sculpture Park |
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COHESION TENSION Collaboration with Katie Schofield 2017 The City Park, Reedsburg, WI Commissioned by the Division of the Arts, UW Madison |
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ZOETHICA W 2017 Wollen Mill Gallery, Reedsburg, WI Commissioned by the Division of the Arts, UW Madison |
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ENDO X EXO 2016 Studio 39, Annapolis, MD Commissioned by Anne Arundel County Public Schools |
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BEAMS 2015 Catylator, Silver Spring, MD |