Virginia Tech M.Arch III Program Portfolio

THOMAS MARK PETERSON

PHOTOGRAPHY Turning the Gem is an exploration of the idea that reality, humanity, the self, etc. can all be equated to a multifaceted gem in which light enters, refracts, and behaves in varying ways among its environment.

There is no right way for the light to behave, it only is.

The series is an attempt to photograph a single sculpture from many perspectives across its urban landscape in Norfolk, Virginia.

Turning The Gem, 20

SCREEN PRINT Studio Kraków is a screen-printing workshop and poster exhibition with the Umbau School of Architecture. During this time, designers, architects, educators and artists regain creative confidence and recognize Krakow, Poland’s rich history of utilizing posters as a vehicle for public conversation around the genuine needs and aspirations of society.

Soli Deo Gloria is a contemplation of what it means to fight for the true, good, and beautiful. Inspired by the works of Sister Corita Kent and Johann Sebastian Bach.

SCREEN PRINT (Um)bauhaus is a homage to the Bauhaus centennial in both subject and process, as well as scientific investigation into entropy.

Entropy is the lack of order or predictability; the gradual decline into disorder.

Cut paper shapes were dropped at a constant height and velocity above a sheet of paper. The falling shapes gave rise to the composition of the screenprint.

Beginning with orderly constants, we observe the universe tend towards chaos before our eyes.

WORDS

Andre reflects an encounter I had with a man experiencing homelessness.

Andre This summer I let a homeless man show me his favorite buildings in Kraków and, all I had to do was follow him.

I do not know Polish. (czy mogę pogłaskać twojego psa?)

He does not know English. (but he speaks with His eyes) I bought pastels to try & recreate the moment.

Maybe, when I’m done I’ll be able to speak with my eyes (& not just to strangers)

Published in Temper Magazine,

ARCHITECTURE Explorations in Line Density is a study of the rotation, continuation, overlap, and shifting of a single floor plan.

BIOMIMICRY Wax Worm Triptych is meant to draw attention to the utilization of Galleria melonella larvae as a solution to the plastic pollution epidemic.

The larvae possess bacteria that aid in the decomposition of polyethylene terephthalate into ethylene glycol; a biodegradable substance.

The enzymes and bacteria responsible for plastic degradation can be isolated and applied in a domestic setting as a “plasticcompost-container” or in an industrial recycling center.

ACRYLIC & COLLAGE Apple Study is a practice in the presentation of three dimensional form through acrylic paint.

West Virginia Whipper is an attempt to retell a personal story of when I plummeted 30 feet from a rock climbing route.

SOUNDS

In the midwinter of 2020, I wrote and recorded two singles under the titles Silent Killer and In The Fire.

The music attempts to depict the beauty of truth, ambiguity, and hope in the everyday mundane.

I endeavored to in turn depict these same ideas visually.

LISTEN Silent Killer,

LISTEN

In The Fire,

LITHOGRAPHY I began practicing Lithography as a form of meditation during COVID-19.

The process has brought me much joy.

THE MANIFESTO 1. Be UNREASONABLE 2. Be THOUGHTFUL 3. Be a POET 4. Be a WARRIOR 5. Be FAITHFUL 6. Be a JOKER 7. Be a FRIEND 8. Be RAW

THANK YOU