Ava L. Peterson: All Is Not As It Appears
All is not as it appears behind the façade of desire.
Ava L. Peterson’s interdisciplinary art contains an almost anthropological curiosity about humans’ appetite for consumerism. Drawing on her memories of adolescent collage-making and her experience as a member of the ever-advertised-to Gen Z, Peterson began questioning her own attraction to architectural and interior design publications. Research soon clarified what she sensed intuitively: our current landscape is part of a long tradition of using desire as a marketing tool.
Her upcoming miar show, Missionaries of Taste, uses imagery from contemporary interior-design magazines to explore how media curates—and manufactures—our wants. In this series, Peterson’s collaged interiors are disrupted by paint that seeps and bleeds into the space, challenging symbols of class aspiration. This exhibition will ask viewers to consider what they desire and why.
NEW GALLERY: Can you talk about the title of the show? What was the intention behind the name?
Ava L. Peterson: Missionaries of Taste comes from my research into Life Magazine. One of the articles I read discussed how the magazine editors became “missionaries of taste,” in which they manipulated and shaped the taste of readers… Almost feeding the middle class their desires and telling them what they should aspire to.
NG: It doesn’t take long to make the leap from that era’s manipulation of media as advertising to how the algorithms operate today on our social media platforms. As your work points out, do any of us actually desire what we think we want? Or have we been manipulated into believing that the acquisition of things will make our lives better?
Obviously, a lot of research has gone into the work you’ve produced for this show. Where and how might these observations, even criticisms, of the American Dream, consumerism, and desire be felt by viewers?
AP: The show will feature acrylic on canvas pieces that I made working from interior design magazines. I spent time observing these magazines and the decorative arts to zoom in on objects, while observing how the rooms are put together at large. I’ve worked like this in the past, but for these works I decided to play with this idea of cutting out images from magazines, sort of as a gesture of desire and an aspiration to own objects.
In one work, the view cuts into the bed, then you see another piece within and realize it’s the shape of a lamp. It gives you the sense that these objects have been cut out or into, like magazine clippings you might put on a mood board.
My hope is that the pieces will kind of talk to each other about scale, desire, and what magazines represent.
NG: The way you apply the paint enhances this idea of cuts and layers.
AP: At first people might be drawn in to view the work, as in “Oh, that's so beautiful.” But I use paint to sort of loosen, decay, and abstract these items. Through this technique viewers should get a sense that there is something off, or dark, about these items.
NG: How does class and identity play a role in your artistic voice?
AP: Class, and consequently identity, play a key role in my work through the lens of domestic space and aspiration. I believe that interiors, or decorative objects themselves, can act as class signifiers. Desire is inextricably linked to these things. In my practice, I use interior design magazines as my source imagery because magazines are crafted to push consumer desire and, therefore, class aspiration. I hope viewers can get a sense of that desire and use these paintings as a starting point for larger conversations about objects deemed solely “decorative” or superficial.
NG: Do you have any other shows or projects on the horizon?
AP: The MFA show at SAIC is February 17-26. I have one other show in the works, but the MFA is the next big thing.
" I believe that interiors, or decorative objects themselves, can act as class signifiers. Desire is inextricably linked to these things... I hope viewers can get a sense of that desire and use these paintings as a starting point for larger conversations about objects deemed solely “decorative” or superficial."
Ava Petersion (b. 2002, OH) received a BFA in Studio Art from Denison University (‘24) and is an MFA candidate in Painting & Drawing at SAIC (’26). Notable Solo exhibitions include House & Garden (Incubator Gallery) and Clear the Kitchen Table (Bryant Arts Center), and group show In a Child’s Place (Purple Window Gallery).
Images courtesy of the artist.
