Contemporary Western
"Since I can remember, I always enjoyed taking things apart and rebuilding them. But at a young age, I found myself not remembering how to reassemble exactly the way it came apart. It became challenging and fascinating for me to create a new way to put things back together. I became obsessed with trying to make things different or even improved, well at least in my own mind."
Born in 1978 in rural New York, Kenneth Peloke is the youngest of four children who were raised by a single mother. He began painting and drawing at the age of seven. His mother was usually unable to provide proper art materials, so Kenneth used crayons, pens, house paint, cardboard, the backside of scrap wallpaper, and even the walls in the house to sketch his drawings. He and his family moved to Arizona when Kenneth was nine.
Private oil painting lessons and a trip to Sedona, Arizona inspired him to paint landscapes which he painted throughout his high school days. Kenneth was not one for the books, as he spent many of his school days feeling lost, confused, or just dreaming in the classroom. However, during this time he entered many juried art competitions with success. He felt like he was starting to find himself through his art. While attending a local community college, he progressed to figure painting and drawing. But after a few semesters, feeling frustrated with his progress and lack of direction, Kenneth gave up painting and pursued a seemingly more practical road to an artistic career in Graphic Design. Although it turned out to be short lived, learning Photoshop, animation, and photography would prove beneficial in his future process for creating his wide variety of work. At just twenty-two and discouraged with an undefined career path in art, he took what ended up being a seven- year hiatus from art entirely.
The desire to pick up a brush again didn't happen until he heard the news of his first child on the way. He was going to have a daughter and a flood of new emotions filled his heart and mind. Ken began painting abstract pieces, which he explained were inspired from non-subjective forms in his mind and raw energy. This presented an entirely new freedom for Kenneth that he longed for but never knew how to unleash. Now at forty -one, he is hard at work using both the subjective world and the bold abstract world together in his work. His latest pieces reflect a bit of all his background and he prides himself on being versatile. Ironically, Kenneth is colorblind, and although this used to present a challenge for him as an artist, he has learned to control his color palette to limit his frustration.
Through experimentation and self-teaching, he has learned to use all of his past works- whether it is landscapes, people, animals, abstracts, design or photography- in his current work. Over the past several years, Kenneth has found inspiration by spending time with his wife's horses. His bold, large-scale pieces capture the pure essence of the horse while still challenging his artistic talents. His multimedia approach creates depth and incredible realism to his pieces that give them a one of a kind contemporary appeal.
