Isaac Petersen

New Zealand Artist

Born: August 26, 1982

Isaac was born in New Plymouth, New Zealand, a coastal farming town on the West Coast. He began selling his paintings within his local community at the age of 19. He later moved to Australia at the age of 33 to start a family with his wife. His photo-realistic style is influenced by realism artists such as, Richard Estes, Franz Gertsch, Graham Sydney, as well as the looser styles of David Hockney, Wayne Thiebaud, and Van Gogh.

Isaac’s broad oeuvre includes New Zealand landscapes, figures, seascapes, street-scenes, and mountains. “I grew up surfing,” he says, “and being a surfer, I’m naturally drawn to the sea, its vastness, and its wildness.”

His work has evolved, reflecting greater simplicity, and he has added his own twist of expressionism to realistic art. “As a person you must grow, and as an artist, you have to put your personality into your art. Just as nature, towns, and cities change and evolve, so do we as humans on this journey of life.”

“I’ve always produced photo-realistic paintings from photos I’ve collected throughout my life - pictures I find peaceful, striking, or interesting.” Over the last five years, he has delved into creating monochrome works, painting a realistic picture in black and white before covering it with a transparent colour. “I like modern-looking art and simplicity - this is my way of simplifying things, this flows into my life. ”Contrasting this simplicity is a craving of expression. “Art shouldn’t be so serious, and neither should the artist. It should be playful and fun.” Many of Isaac’s recent works have become just that - photo-realistic paintings overlaid with random childlike painted pictures, often from the influence of his young kid’s creative and colourful paintings. “My kids are great painters, they are creative and fun, paintings sharks with two mouths, and random things. You might see one of these on one of my big landscape paintings.”