Emerging from Cleon Peterson’s ongoing exploration of power, violence, and the darker impulses of human nature, this edition reflects on the cycles of domination and revenge that continue to shape contemporary society. Rather than locating violence in a particular conflict or moment, the work points to a recurring pattern in which the pursuit of power produces suffering, retaliation, and further destruction.
Characteristic of Peterson’s practice, stylised figures and stark graphic contrasts reduce conflict to an almost archetypal struggle between power and submission. Behind this apparent opposition lies a more unsettling proposition: darkness cannot simply be attributed to an external enemy, but exists as a possibility within us all. Suspended between confrontation and uncertainty, the work asks what might be required to interrupt these cycles, while resisting the comfort of offering an easy way out.
