If you grew up on Looney Tunes and similar cartoons, then the works of Chicago artist Peter Frederiksen will be right up your alley. Frederiksen is responsible for creating a series of intriguing embroidery artworks that are inspired by old-school cartoons.
Frederiksen takes an unusual approach by zooming in on particular scenes and showing them out of context. This usually involves moments of high tension or ones that foreshadow future climactic happening. By doing so, the artist creates a visually appealing piece that often contains hints of dark humor.
According to Frederiksen, the high-tension moments and escalations that take place in cartoons take a back seat and are shrouded in playfulness. His goal is to make them more pronounced with his embroidery art, which he creates using a free-motion embroidery technique.
“Using familiar imagery, I like to examine fear, panic, toxic masculinity, anxiety, anticipation, and humor, all through the lens of the shared visual language of Looney Tunes cartoons,” Frederiksen explained in a recent interview with BOOOOOOOM!.
Frederiksen presented his intriguing embroidery works through solo exhibitions at The Flat in Milan, Italy, Galleri Urbane in Dallas, Texas, and the UNION Gallery in London, UK, among others. He also shares his work on social media.
