bio
Lorenz Peter was born in Montreal and grew up in Northern Alberta. In 1990, he left school to pursue cartooning and music. Lorenz has released five full length graphic novels since then: Chaos Mission, Dark Adaptation (winner of the Doug Wright award for Best Emerging Artist), Side Effect, Grey Museum and his newest, On Vinyl. In 1997, Lorenz joined Corpusse, forming a power duo that would influence Toronto’s underground art rock/noise scene for nearly 15 years and record 3 albums together. Lorenz lives in Toronto where he continues to work independently on comics, illustrations, and musical acts Processor and Off World.
Statement
In my graphic novels, short stories and illustrations I offer darkly humorous glimpses of contemporary life. My work is often inspired by personal experience and portrays Canadian cities, towns and landscapes. I choose black and white and work with pen and ink because I appreciate the simplicity and stark effect the images can achieve as well as the fine detail. Lately, I am focused on drawing tiny plants and forest floor activity. Delighting in the way twigs and cones and leaves are strewn about, mixed with ants and other crawling insects, tall late summer grass and frozen marshes. I revisited my older sketchbooks and found that these themes turned up regularly throughout my cartooning career but were overlooked or passed off as mere sketches. I now feel stronger about them as I can recall with clarity the moment, the day and the feelings from when I drew them. I recall feeling grounded in those moments. Frogs, spiders, turtles, wood insects and their habitats have always captivated me and have informed my work for decades. The time seems right to allow these themes to determine my artistic direction.
