Peter Hoffer's fourth solo exhibition, "Impressions de la Région Toulousaine," features landscape paintings that are more relational than representational – he explores trees as protagonists.
“When in a natural setting such as a forest, we are sensitized to our surroundings in a manner that we don't experience in any urban setting. The silence of a tree, blade of grass, or a moss-covered stone fills our periphery with a sense of familiarity and comfort,” says Hoffer.
His approach to each painting is narrow. Hoffer singles out a tree and positions it at eye level. As a result, he creates an uncertain vantage point of the tree's dimension—either the viewer is close to it and it is small, or further away, and the tree happens to be massive. Regardless of the viewer's perception, a confrontation happens that humanizes the tree. In Hoffer's own words, "The forest becomes a stage; the tree becomes an actor."
Each painting in the exhibition is coated with a layer of resin, simultaneously distancing and immersing the viewer. Surfaces have been marked, scratched, cracked, and seared, much like the terrain.
