Why, etc.

In the beginning, I enjoyed simply working with wood. But I soon became fascinated with making boxes. I made boxes that were intended to store things and were only coincidentally decorative. Over time my boxes evolved. First they grew appendages – legs and arms and spikes. Before long they grew heads and other accessories. They smiled, frowned or cried. They sprouted hair or feathers or fish. They acquired personality and became anthropomorphic… or sometimes zoomorphic. Today they are less a container, and more a means to express ideas and feelings... and hopefully to elicit a response from the viewer.

The boxes are important structurally because they provide a substrate on which to build. But they also important as a symbol of our emotional and spiritual selves. They are vessels waiting to be filled or waiting to be opened and the contents (whether literal or symbolic) explored, shared, or sometimes kept hidden.

My objective is to interpret the human condition in an entertaining, moving and engaging way. My goal is to provoke reflection and emotion from the viewer.

Peter Shaughnessy
Born August 14, 1956, Arlington County, Virginia
Immigrated to Canada in 1971, landing in Vancouver, British Columbia
Simon Fraser University - 1974 to 1977 - Biochemistry Major
Journeyman Boatbuilder - 1982-1988
Married to Roma, they have two children, Brenda and Patrick
Moved to the Chilcotin Region of British Columbia in 1988.